Sweet Home’s volleyball team continues to make progress.
The Huskies swept Stayton in a Homecoming Week game Thursday and then posted their best finish ever at the Seaside Tournament Saturday, Coach Alicia Meier said.
Seaside Tournament
In what Meier described as a “stacked” pool, which included powers Estacada, Cascade and Tillamook, Sweet Home swept Warrenton 25-18, 25-8 and Molalla 25-20, 25-11, then lost 2-1 to Tillamook (23-25, 25-23, 15-11) to take fourth in the pool, which led to a second place consolation-bracket finish.
“We almost beat Tillamook,” Meier said. It would have been an opportune time to take a win from them.”
She said the Huskies are versatile enough that coaches can switch line-ups around, which seems to work well in tournaments.
Sweet Home 3, Stayton 0
In front of a home crowd, Sweet Home kept the Eagles on the ropes en route to a 25-22, 25-18, 25-13 win.
“Stayton started off really strong, but we started getting better and better,” Meier said. “We started playing with more confidence and our serving was really good.”
McKenzie Kauffman was strong behind the service line and middle blockers Madisen Barringer and Josie Knight “worked really hard for us,” she said. “Our middles work hard and they don’t get recognition, unlike the outside hitters who usually get all the glory.”
Junction City 3, Sweet Home 0
Playing at home against the Tigers didn’t help the Huskies, who lost for the second time this season to Junction City, 25-14, 25-22, 25-20.
“We just got beat by them,” Meier said, adding that her team seems to have trouble matching up to the Tigers. “We definitely played much better than when we went there, but we weren’t really on.”
Sweet Home, 2-5 in league and 7-11 overall as of Tuesday, is hosting Cottage Grove at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, and traveling to Elmira on Thursday. The Huskies defeated both teams earlier this season and were tied Monday with Cottage Grove for fourth at 2-5, one game behind Junction City.
“These are important games for us if we want to keep our chances for third place,” Meier said.