The Sisters Outlaws volleyball team defeated the Huskies 15-13 and 15-7 at Sisters in the Huskies’ second match of the season Thursday night.
The Huskies had come off a rough game with Cascade earlier in the week.
“Against Sisters, again, I really felt like our play looked good, but again we’re just trying to force the serve too much,” Coach Heide Nichol said. The team missed 11 serves in the two games, though they passed and hit well.
The Huskies struggled early on in serve receiving, Coach Nichol said, but Crystal Fowler and Katie Reynolds came off the bench, stopping the ball and passing, “and really kept us in the game.”
Hitting, Stephanie Miller and Lisa Brocard were 8-11 with two kills each. Kara Howell was 9-14 with three kills.
Setting, Amanda Burcham was 40-43, Coach Nichol said. She did “a very good job for us,” with a couple of dumps that were also kills.
“Heather Wall was the main bright spot in serving,” Coach Nichol said. Though she had no aces, she served an accurate 7-7. “She kept it in the court because she knew that’s what we had to do.”
Teresa Lewis was also 10-12 in serve receives.
On Tuesday at home, the Huskies caught Cascade off guard, winning the first game 15-6.
“So after their initial poor start, we gave them a chance to get their momentum going,” Coach Heide Nichol said. Cascade won the second game 15-13, but the Huskies came back to win the match with a 15-13 win.
“I didn’t see us gelling or moving like we did even a week earlier,” Coach Nichol said of last week’s games. That’s part of making progress. The team improves then hits a plateau, and that’s where they’re at now.
The team knows it and had a good practice Friday, Coach Nichol said. Mahria Zook, who was out with a fractured ankle, will be back next week. She adds good passing, serve receives and consistent hitting to the team.
In a tournament at Junction City over the weekend, the freshman lost to Springfield in the championships. The junior varsity competed in pool play, showing improvement.
Coming up, the Huskies face Molalla at Molalla Thursday night. On Saturday, they face Crescent Valley.
Correction
Lisa Brocard was incorrectly identified as Sarah Brocard in last week’s The New Era.