It’s rare to find a crosstown rivalry with the stakes present in Tuesday night’s matchup between Tumwater and Black Hills, and the match didn’t disappoint in Tumwater.
In back and forth action all night, the Wolves prevailed over the Thunderbirds in five sets, 14-25, 26-24, 28-26, 20-25, 15-11.
The Wolves could not have gotten off to a worse start in the first, never getting any momentum and committing way too many errors to stay in it. After a second set that featured numerous lead changes, the T-Birds were looking to go up 2-0 with a 24-22 second set lead and two set points to get it done. Instead, the Wolves rattled off four straight points to take the second set and tie it all up with momentum.
The third set was much like the second, going back and forth until Black Hills again came out on top in a narrow 28-26 victory to take a 2-1 lead. After dropping set four 25-20, it all came down to the fifth.
But it was the Wolves night, as the visitors won 15-11 to take the huge rivalry game and gain sole possession of first place in EvCo. The loss for the Thunderbirds is their first league defeat of the season.
Tumwater will look to rebound against W.F. West on Thursday while Black Hills takes on Centralia at home.
