Sweet Home’s volleyball team showed why Coach Alicia Meier is optimistic about the Huskies’ chances this year, downing Philomath 3-1 in their home opener Thursday night.
The Huskies came out strong in the first game serving and slamming home hits, and taking advantage of the Warriors being a little out of synch, all the way to a 25-14 win.
Sweet Home’s game plan was to keep the ball away from Warriors junior Haley Bennett, who towered over everybody else on the court.
“She’s amazing. Our plan was to keep her out of the game, not let her touch the ball,” Meier said. “That worked for the first five minutes.”
Bennett, though, was out of synch, which helped the Huskies, who had lost the previous Friday to Philomath 25-17, 29-27 in an endowment tournament at Santiam Christian.
The Warriors hung closer in Game 2 and made a run at the end, tying the score at 24-all before Sweet Home put it away, 26-24.
The Huskies had problems in the third game.
“We started serving terrible, into the net, and our passing wasn’t very good,” Meier said. “We were doing what they were doing in the first game.”
That resulted in a 25-14 loss for Sweet Home and forced a fourth game, in which the hosts got their rhythm back, finishing on top 25-23.
“I was really proud of them,” Meier said. “I thought the mindset was there.”
Senior Jordan Miller led the Huskies at the net with six kills, while freshman Ally Tow and junior Molly Fisher each added four.
Junior Josie Knight and sophomore Madisen Barringer contributed three blocks each and Tow and Fisher both had three aces.
Senior libero McKenzie Coch-ran led the team with 10 recorded digs, though Meier said she actually had more than that.
She said Cochran and freshman Kayley Lopez “did a really good job of setting.”
The team played well as a whole, she said.
“It was nice, having a game plan and being able to follow through with it. It was nice to have every aspect of the game – passing, hitting, setting.”
At the Santiam Christian tournament, the Huskies lost 25-11, 25-17 to the hosts, who are considered one of the top contenders in the 3A, and 2-1 to Elmira, winning the first game 25-13, then losing the next two 25-22, 15-11.
“We totally tanked,” Meier said of the Elmira loss.
Now 1-3, Sweet Home will host Corbett Tuesday, Sept. 9, and Stayton on Thursday, Sept. 11, both at 6:45 p.m. to finish out its pre-league schedule.