By Keeghan Gittins
For The New Era
Sweet Home’s volleyball players launched their league season against, arguably, their toughest opponent, No. 2 Philomath
The Warriors used their extreme height advantage to dominate the contest, 25-19, 25-11, 25-14. The Huskies then bounced back just two days later, Sept. 25 against Newport, with an extra-set thriller ultimately winning, three sets to two.
Philomath 3, Sweet Home 0
On the road at Philomath Tuesday, Sept. 23, Sweet Home fell in straight sets to a tall and physical Warriors team.
Despite the loss to the Warriors, Head Coach Katie Dargis said she saw important progress in the team, not just in play, but in chemistry.
“These taller, tougher teams challenge us physically, so we’re focusing on strategy, serving tough, finding open spots, and getting opponents out of system. Even in a loss, we walked away proud of how we treated each other on the court. That’s a win in itself,” Dargis said.
The Huskies struggled to find rhythm at Philomath, getting down early and not being able to rally their way out of the deficits. Sweet Home really struggled with inconsistency at the net.
“We had a lot of missed opportunities, we struggled to swing aggressively and just had too many errors overall.” she said.
Aaliyah Brown, normally an outside hitter, moved to the middle due to an injury and made the most of her time on the floor. She finished with four kills on nine swings with just one error.
“She stepped in with a great attitude and made the most of her chances,” said Coach Dargis.
Keira Johnson had a perfect serving night, going 10-for-10 from the line, providing one of the few bright spots in an otherwise inconsistent serving performance.
Sweet Home aimed to regroup quickly with a home matchup against Newport.
Sweet Home 3, Newport 2
The Huskies earned a hard-fought victory over Newport Thursday, Sept. 25.
Winning the first set, 25-19 Sweet Home then lost the next two by the same margin, both 25-21. But the Huskies rallied, 25-23 in the fourth set and breaking the tie in the fifth and final set, 15-11.
“We’ve talked a lot about how we can’t get comfortable after winning a set,” Dargis said. “We have to stay a little uncomfortable, stay locked in and fight for every single point, the girls did a good job responding under pressure. We’re trying to focus on anticipating what’s next instead of reacting to what already happened.”
Junior Aubrey Newberry led the way offensively, recording 12 kills on 32 swings with just four errors. Sweet Home found success targeting Newport’s right-back zone, and Newberry took full advantage.
“We kept feeding Aubrey because it was working. She was finding ways to get through or over their block,” said Coach Dargis.
Hannah Nicholson also stepped up in a big way, finishing with seven kills on 21 swings and just five errors, while also playing a key role on defense.
“Hannah’s really getting comfortable out there. She’s had to take on more responsibility lately and it’s great to see her shine,” said Coach Dargis. “She was aggressive when swinging, smart with her tips, and picked up a lot of defensive balls in the front row.”
Kaitlyn Kennedy added seven kills and 16 digs. Johnson led the team with 20 digs, while Trinity Victor posted 20 assists and added 10 digs of her own.
Sweet Home also found success at the net, with Newberry, Nicholson, Johnson, and Natalie Smith each collecting blocks throughout the match. Dargis noted that not a lot of blocks are counted on the box score but are crucial in slowing down the ball to set up offense.
“A lot of those digs we get are because the blockers slow the ball down first. That doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but it makes a huge difference,” said Coach Dargis.
The Huskies will look to tighten things up at the service line after missing 18 serves against Newport.
Dargis looks to cut that in half come next week.
We’re serving aggressively, and I’ll live with some mistakes, but we have to clean that up,” she said.
Serve receive continues to be an area of focus in practice.
“We’re working hard on it, we’re creating those opportunities in practice to better prepare us for games.”
“These matches are making us better, we’re learning how to stay in matches mentally and keep pushing forward. That’s what will carry us through the rest of the season,” Dargis said.
This week, Sweet Home travels to North Marion (0-2, 2-7 as of Monday) on Sept. 30, and then hosts Stayton (0-2, 3-7) on Thursday, Oct. 2.