Riding a seven game winning streak after taking one of their slickest victories of the year Tuesday night, members of the South Whidbey High School volleyball team had no reason to fear going face-to-face with Meridian at the net.p One of the top-ranked teams in the state, Meridian — which hosted the Falcons Thursday night — has earned its place atop the North Cascades Conference standings this year, going 6-1 overall and staying undefeated in conference play. Nothing about that changed this week, despite South Whidbey’s best effort to make it otherwise.p Two days after slapping down Mount Baker at home, the Falcons saw their winning streak end at Meridian as they lost 23-25, 17-25, 20-25. Having experienced a good deal of success so far this season, the matchup had the Falcons feeling that they have what it takes to beat the best, with some work.p “Our girls played hard, and now we know what to expect and what to work on,” said Falcon coach Tim Durbin.p Durbin said the match was close and exciting. Over three games, senior setter Brianna Hussey had 18 assists and six kills, senior Katy McGillen had eight kills and 14 digs, and junior Amy Brown notched 15 digs.p While these are solid statistics, they did not compare to the stellar night South Whidbey had Tuesday against Mount Baker. Over three games, five Falcons combined for 28 kills on 24 passes from Hussey to put together the best set of passing and point finishes of the season. Durbin rated the team’s passing performance — which made for easy pickings when the Falcons went for kill after kill at the net — as a 2.5 on a 3-scale.p The accuracy with which the Falcons moved the ball around lead to some booming finishes, especially in the second game of the night. A streak of hammering kills by Liz Norris and Katy McGillen put the game well out of Mount Baker’s reach as South Whidbey rolled 25-8.p Even after losing Thursday’s game, the Falcons are 7-2 overall and sit in third place in the NCC.