Sweet Home’s volleyball team notched its first two league wins last week, over Woodburn and Philomath, then finished the week as runner-up at the Cascade Tournament, where they posted their first win in years over Sisters.
Cascade Tournament
“The Cascade Tournament was a great opportunity for us to see some teams before we meet them in league play,” Coach Mary Hutchins said.
The field on Saturday, Sept. 8, consisted of Cascade, Newport, Philomath and Sisters from the Oregon West League, plus Junction City, Cottage Grove, Astoria, Seaside, Tillamook, Kennedy, North Marion, Scappoose. Madras, Molalla and Corbett.
Sweet Home started the day with pool play against Cottage Grove, North Marion and Seaside, which catapulted the Huskies into the gold (highest) bracket, where scores were recorded.
Sweet Home outscored Astoria 25-17, 25-19 in the first round of bracket play.
“I felt like we came out and played well,” Hutchins said. “We worked well as a team and our serve/receive looked strong.”
Facing last year’s state champion, Sisters, in the semifinals, the Huskies won 2-1 (19-25, 25-22, 18-16).
“This win was a momentous win for the Sweet Home program,” said Hutchins, who saw her 2017 team come oh-so-close to toppling the Outlaws. “Sisters is, as always, very well balanced and has a lot of skill and control. I am proud of the girls for working so hard and battling through several long rallies and tough points to win that game.”
The win took its toll, though, as the Huskies had to turn around and play the championship game against Kennedy, which had been sitting and watching the match against Sisters.
“We were quite tired by this point,” Hutchins said. “It was very late in the day and we had been playing for several hours in a row at this point.”
Sweet Home got a 10-minute break to eat quickly, as they had been in the gym and had not been able to eat for awhile. Hutchins said.
“We tried giving some rest the first set against Kennedy and trying some lineup changes.” Sweet Home lost that game 25-13, so the Huskies went back to their normal line-up and finished on top, 25-22.
They lost the deciding match 15-13.
“We kept battling and just wouldn’t go away,” Hutchins said of the third set. “They are definitely a worthy opponent.”
She said that playing 14 sets against six different opponents was a good experience.
“We learned a lot about ourselves and saw many things we can work on to improve this season. We also meshed better as a team and were able to focus on things we need to change during games to affect the final outcome.
Sweet Home 3, Philomath 0
The Huskies were familiar with the Warriors from years of club play, and Philomath has been expected to be strong this year, Hutchins said.
She was happy with the 25-14, 25-14, 25-14 score.
“I feel like the Philomath game was the best we have played so far at home and as a team. Once we adjusted and got our defense to take the line shot and stayed in system, we played very well against them. The girls served tough and several went on serving runs that really helped create a score cushion. After the first set the coach switched the libero and put her into her rotation lineup as a 6 position player to try to get more hitting and blocking.
“She was looking for that third hitting option. We still adjusted well and were able to take care of business in Sets 2 and 3.”
Sweet Home 3, Woodburn 0
The Huskies made short work of their hosts, winning 25-7, 25-4, 25-12.
“Woodburn is definitely in a building year,” Hutchins said. ” They have one senior, the libero, that has volleyball experience and another girl that plays club and the girls have great energy and enthusiasm.
“We just overpowered them, I think, with more court experience and ability to play at a faster pace. The girls were able to get some time practicing at different positions and with some different lineups.”
Hutchins said she is “super proud” of her team.
“It was a long week, with a lot of volleyball, but we are very happy with the results.
“They work so hard in practice and they have high expectations for themselves. They want to be the best that they can and they work toward that every time they step on the court.”
Sweet Home hosts Stayton at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11, then has Thursday off. They will host Cascade on Tuesday, Sept. 18, before traveling to Sisters on Sept. 20.