Pass, please.

When they could get the ball to one another Saturday, South Whidbey High School volleyball players were hot. But when they couldn’t, they were not.

Passing failures over a long day of tournament play proved to be the undoing for the Falcons as they placed 10th among 16 teams in their annual invitational over the weekend. Though there were a couple of solid games — including a 15-7, 15-7 win over Mariner and a playoff-round, 16-14, 15-10 thriller over Shoreline Christian — the South Whidbey girls didn’t have what they needed when it counted.

Falcon Coach Tim Durbin said that though the tournament brought out some of the best serving and passing from his team this season, it also brought out some of the worst. In a third round, best-of-three loss to Omak Saturday morning, the Falcons had trouble with passing, leading to a number of unforced errors at the net. Against a good team like Omak, Durbin said, those errors were fatal as the Falcons lost 1-15, 6-15.

Against Mariner in the first match of the day, the play was better. According to Durbin, Mary Murphy was “on fire” with five kills. Other statistical leaders for the Falcons on the day were Brianna Hussey with seven kills and 41 assists, Julie Robinson with 11 kills, and Nici Eaton with 10 kills.

The last game of the day was as tough as any during the tournament. Paired off against northern neighbor Coupeville, the Falcons battled hard in a tight, 15-17 loss in the first game of the match, then let down 7-15 in the second to allow the Wolves to take ninth place.

Winning the tournament was Chelan High School, taking the title in a championship game against Woodland High School.

The Falcons now have an overall record of 4-2. The team’s next home game is Thursday against Blaine.