Hands raised in triumph and her head thrown toward the ceiling, Isabel Day could hardly believe the moment was real.
Day had just pulled off a miracle for the Lake Washington High volleyball team on Wednesday evening, finishing a wild rally with a one-handed desperation heave — all while facing away from the net.
The play tied the game midway through the decisive fifth set. The Kangs went on to score the next five points and grab a stranglehold in a showdown with conference and cross-town rival Juanita High.
The Kangaroos finished with a five-set victory over Juanita, 22-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 15-11, at Lake Washington High School.
Afterward, Day was moved to tears. The junior hitter tore her meniscus and her ACL in the final game of the 2015 season. Wednesday marked the first home victory since she had watched an injury threaten her career.
“I didn’t think I would ever play again, let alone with a group of girls this amazing,” Day said, brokenly. “Being able to feel that feeling again of, just, winning and being with your teammates, I haven’t felt this in so long.”
Lake Washington (3-4 KingCo, 3-5) was dominant in the second and fourth sets, tying the match each time Juanita took a lead. The fifth set was close early on, with Juanita holding a 7-6 advantage.
“That was the point where we got all of our energy back and everybody realized we could win the fifth set,” said junior hitter Haley Kubik of Day’s dig. “Definitely a turning point. We needed that.”
Lake Washington coach Stephanie Kuhn said Day has a special drive in her that tends to spread to her teammates, which is why she was excited when she heard Day was able to return just a week before tryouts.
“Making that play was a little bit of luck, honestly, but it riled the girls up, it riled the crowd up, it riled me up and I think it might have been just that play that set the fire in us to win the final set,” Kuhn said. “I think tonight was really important for us to taste a win because we are new [to each other]. It, hopefully, is going to be momentum for the next few matches.”
After a long stretch of road matches, the Kangs will play five of the final seven conference matches at home.
“It’s been a struggle for a little while,” Kubik said. “We’ve had to come back against teams that we thought we could beat, and we didn’t end up winning. I think this was a really good game for us.”
Lake Washington shed a home losing streak, and Day shed bad memories of her injury, which happened on the same section of floor as the rally-sparking dig.
“I’ve tried to remove that spot from my mind as much as possible,” she said. “Thinking about it now, it means so much more to be playing back here again — playing like the person I am, being myself and playing volleyball. It means so much.”
For the Rebels (2-5, 2-5) the result was a tough one. Juanita led 2-1, and had rallies fall short in the fourth and fifth sets. The loss also comes after a 3-2 win over Bellevue on Sept. 26, a big road victory for Juanita.
“We’ve had a great week,” Juanita coach Rob Jammerman said. “We beat Bellevue, we almost beat [Lake Washington] and now we get ready for Liberty and Interlake.”
Next for the Kangs is a home match against Redmond on Monday, Oct. 3. The Rebels are scheduled to take part in a tournament on Saturday, Oct. 1 at Glacier Peak High School.
