Sweet Home’s volleyball team tuned up for its league season opener Tuesday evening, Sept. 10, against Woodburn, with wins over Tillamook and a championship at the Cascade Tournament.
The Huskies, 4-0, are ranked No. 1 in the OSAA 4A poll this week, which is the first time in ears Sweet Home has been considered the top team in the state.
The Huskies beat Tillamook at home Tuesday, Sept. 3, 25-18, 25-14 and 25-18.
Coach Mary Hutchins said her players were a little out of synch, though it might not have been evident to spectators.
“We were just a tad bit ‘off’ as a team and not in our normal flow,” she said. “We had to work through some things offensively and defensively to get where we needed to be.
“I think Tillamook is still working out their chemistry and were kind of streaky against us, but the potential is there if they can get all the pieces into place. It’s early in the season so they have lots of time to come into their own.”
She said that such struggles are a reminder that “these are high school human beings and not ‘machines.'”
“They did a great job of staying focused on their goal and what they wanted the final outcome to be
and they fought for that. These girls are very competitive and determined. They have exhibited that over and over again.”
Against Tillamook the Husky JV and JV2 won in “convincing” fashion, she said.
Then, at the 16-team Cascade Tournament on Saturday, they won all their sets in pool play, moving on to the championship bracket, where they defeated Junction City 25-15, 25-11, Cottage Grove 25-12, 25-19, and Kennedy, which had not lost a set at that point in the season, 25-22, 25-10.
“The girls just turned it on and got better and better as the day wore on,” Hutchins said. “We have been working really hard on moving blockers and keeping the other teams out of system, especially because we are relatively small compared to some of the other teams.
“We are emphasizing improvement on serve-receive so that we can run some stuff we have been working on offensively and the girls had a chance to try running many new plays and they were doing a great job adjusting. They played very well and stayed positive the whole day.”
The No. 1 ranking has gotten Sweet Home attention, she said.
“It’s very apparent that teams are considering playing us as a standard to measure themselves and where they are in the pack this year. Most every team came and watched us at Cascade and most were filming us, which I would expect.
“I think a ranking is a ranking. You have to go out every game and prove that ranking and make it a reality. Until then it’s just a number.”
The Huskies (4-0) face Woodburn (0-3) at home at 6 p.m. Tuesday, then travel to Philomath (2-1) Thursday, Sept. 12.