Huskies face tough league week, fall to Cascade and Philomath in volleyball

Sweet Home’s Lexi Rundell, center, sets a ball as Miley Smith supports. Photos courtesy of Kristine Banker

By Keeghan Gittins
For The New Era

Sweet Home’s volleyball team slipped to fourth place in the Oregon West Conference, tied with Newport, coming into this week, following losses to Cascade and Philomath last week.

The defeats left the Huskies at 2-4 in league, 9-9 overall.

Cascade 3, Sweet Home 0 

Sweet Home opened the week with a challenging home matchup on Tuesday, Oct. 7,  against No. 17 Cascade, falling in straight sets, 25-14, 25-22, 25-21. Despite the loss, Coach Katie Dargis said she was proud of her team’s effort.

“Even with the loss, I’m really happy with how the girls played. They came out and competed very well against a very high-level team,” Dargis said. “We worked hard to control what we could control, focusing on serve receive, tip coverage, and keeping our unforced errors to a minimum. I was very happy they were able to come out and compete with that team.”

Several players delivered strong performances despite the deficit. Keira Johnson went 13-for-13 from the service line and contributed high-quality passes on serve receive. Karrisa Jewell added three aces, while Newberry served 7-for-7 with two aces and recorded four kills. Brown contributed five kills, and Gonzales added key blocks and defensive plays.

Dargis highlighted the team’s communication and mental toughness: “Our goal is to communicate well and stay positive with our teammates,” she said. “Those high-pressure games help us grow and prepare for the next challenge. We’re proud of how we treated our teammates and how we represented Sweet Home. We just focused on hustling to base and anticipating plays.”

Philomath 3, Sweet Home 0

Two days later, Sweet Home traveled to face No. 3 Philomath, again falling 3-0 in a hard-fought match. (25-17, 25-14, 25-21)

The Huskies started slow but gradually increased their offense, taking multiple swings and challenging the towering Philomath blockers at the net.

“I’m proud of how resilient they were,” Dargis said of her team. “ We started off kind of slow, but then took off to be more aggressive. We just weren’t able to put the ball away enough and struggled on serve receive quite a bit, but I’m proud of the resilience they showed and how they treated each other while fighting at home against a top team,” she said.

Several players stood out: Johnson was perfect on the service line with 13-for-13 serves, Newberry had six kills, Kennedy had six kills, and Gonzales added four kills. The Huskies collectively only missed six serves and took numerous offensive swings but ultimately couldn’t convert enough points against a tough Philomath squad.

The Huskies now face a critical stretch of league matches to remain in playoff contention. Looking forward, Sweet Home will have a road game versus Newport, Oct 14. Then have their Senior night against North Marion, Thursday Oct. 16.

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