Staff
Sweet Home’s volleyball team looked like it was picking up where it left off last year, opening the season last week with wins over Tillamook (3-2) on the road and Molalla (3-0) at home.
“We’re doing well,” Coach Mary Hutchins said.
Following a “long bus ride” on Tuesday, Aug. 28, the Huskies got off to a fast start against the No. 5-ranked Cheesemakers, winning the first game 25-14.
“The first game, (Tillamook was) trying to get in synch,” Hutchins said. “They have height and blocking. They have a lot of guns, a lot of firepower. They will be a good team.”
It didn’t take long for the Cheesemakers to prove it, taking advantage of Sweet Home errors to even the score in the second game, 25-15, by playing better and splitting their big hitters on the front line.
The Huskies were down throughout the third game until they evened the score at 21-all, then made some errors to let it get away.
“I talked to the girls about focus and reminded them of all the practice time we’d put in,” Hutchins said. “We want a team to beat us, not beat ourselves.
“They were very unhappy after that third game.”
Her team responded with a 25-11 win in the fourth game, then finished things off 15-10, thanks largely to some tough defense and, particularly two long serving runs.
“We ended the fourth game with a lot of momentum, and we carried that into the fifth game,” Hutchins said. Tillamook battled to an 11-9 lead, then the Huskies put it away.
“I think they were a little bit tired,” she said, noting that her team has been working on conditioning with “a lot of active drills.”
Also, she said, the Huskies refused to lose.
“We just rallied – long, long rallies. We wouldn’t go away. We would not let the ball hit the ground.
“It was a really fun game.”
Shelbey Nichol ended it by serving an ace on the final point, launching a celebration after what was, at least on paper, an upset.
“It was nice to see the girls celebrate so hard,” Hutchins said. “It was nice to surprise people a little bit.”
Against Molalla in their home opener on Thursday, Aug. 30, the Huskies dispatched the Indians efficiently 25-7 in the first game, but got a little sloppy in the second, before putting the visitors away 25-17.
“I felt like we got a little lackadaisical because the pace was slower than Tillamook and we knew we had a cushion,” Hutchins said. “I had to remind them what I expect of them.”
They responded, returning to their first-game form for a 25-11 win.
Sweet Home will start its league play Tuesday, Sept. 4, at Woodburn, then will host Philomath at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6. The Warriors are 1-1 after entering the season ranked sixth in the 4A, before losing 3-0 to seventh-ranked Cottage Grove.