Ken Roberts
For The New Era
The Huskies completed the first round of league volleyball play by losing to Newport and Central last week, bringing their record to a 1-3 mark.
Sweet Home went into a lull midway into the first game at Newport and struggled from that point on to lose 15-25. In the second game, it was the Huskies who turned it up a notch. Sara Brocard and Kami White led the charge with their frontline play to build a six point lead.
Then, on White’s service rotation, she had the Cubs reeling with a couple of aces plus Bre Messmer contributed with a couple of kills and a block to raise the margin to 11. Messmer added a couple of aces on her own serve as Sweet Home carved out a 25-13 victory.
The third game was pivotal as both teams went back and forth to a 18-18 tie. A team effort led the Huskies to the brink of victory at 24-20, including a couple of points at the net by Jessalyn Seiber. Unfortunately, Newport chose that time to get strong at the net while the Huskies’ front line attack faltered. The Cubs fought off four game points to steal the game away, 28-26.
Game three was another close one, but late service errors allowed Newport to finish off the match, 25-21.
“I wasn’t disappointed in our play,” said coach Debbie Danielson, “just that we didn’t get the win.”
Against Central, the top-ranked team in the league, Sweet Home never challenged. In the first two games, the Panthers used their much taller front line to build big leads, eventually going on to win 25-16 and 25-11.
In the third game, Brocard and Seiber matched kills against Central to keep within a point or two. But Central continued its strong attack and the Huskies began to make some errors, losing in the end 18-25.
Danielson knew Central would be strong and figures it will take some work to stop the Panthers.
“They are pretty strong,” said Danielson, who knows her team must work harder to avoid hitting into the blocks.
“We’ll keep trying to find their holes and weaknesses.”
Despite the 1-3 start, Danielson still believes Sweet Home can earn the second berth to the state tournament. This week they have to pick up the repeat win at Philomath and then play much stronger against Taft at home Thursday.
“Every game is important,” said Danielson. “Philomath keeps getting better. We just have to play to win and not play to avoid losing.”
Sisters Tournament
In the 25-team tournament which attracted many of the top teams from around the state, Sweet Home drew an unlucky spot in the toughest pool. Two of their opponents, Henley and LaGrande, played for the tournament championship.
The third team, Banks played in the championship of the lowest bracket. All of them handily dismissed the Huskies, starting with a 12-21, 19-21 loss to Banks. Then Henley powered its way to identical 21-8 victories, which was followed by a 6-21, 15-21 defeat at the hands of LaGrande.
The Huskies were forced to play a match against Yamhill-Carlton just to make it into the lower tournament bracket. The Huskies built a five-point lead early, based on miscues by the Tigers, but it didn’t hold up. Instead, it turned into a marathon game in which Sweet Home fought off three match points and Y-C four before a netted hit gave the Huskies a 33-31 win.
The second game was almost as thrilling as the Huskies pulled out a 25-23 victory as Seiber made a couple of key plays late at the net.
Against Seaside, Paige Niemi kept the Huskies close in the first game with a kill, a block, a saving dig, and an ace.
But it wasn’t until the middle of the game on Julie Bucham’s serve that Sweet Home took command, building a six-point lead that they never relinquished as Niemi added two more kills.
In the second game, it was Brocard’s turn to be in a zone. Burcham kept setting her early, leading to four kills and a 10-5 margin. However, it was a total team effort, including many great saving digs, that overwhelmed Seaside 25-13 and allowed the Huskies to advance.
In the semifinal match against Junction City, the Tigers played superb defense and a timely offense to keep Sweet Home on its heels. Junction City swept the match 25-10, 25-18.
Danielson still sees the team’s lack of confidence derailing their efforts.
“In every huddle, we talk about starting strong, staying strong, and finishing strong,” stated Danielson. “We have to get everybody to play consistently, game in and game out.”