A long trip across the state marked the end of the road for the resurgent Sweet Home volleyball team as the Huskies ended their playoff run at Baker, 3-1.
Baker jumped out to a quick lead with some aggressive play at the net, winning the first game 25-17, before Sweet Home fought back with a 25-23 win in Game Two. But the Bulldogs lived up to their name, taking the next two games 25-11 and 25-21 to move on to the eight-team championship tournament which starts Friday at Lane Community College.
“They had two really good middle hitters,” said first-year Coach Alicia Meier. “They ran a lot of high-lows. It was just one of those things – momentum. We’d get the ball and then we couldn’t convert into more than a couple of points.
“Our service game was OK. It was our attacking. We weren’t being aggressive and we were giving them easy shots.”
Brandi Trewin was the leading scorer for the Huskies, registering 12 kills as the team finished with “about half” of the kills they scored against Cascade the week before.
Trewin added six blocks, while Annie Whitfield added seven kills and two blocks, along with 11 digs and Tiffany Miller had 17 assists and seven digs against Baker.
Meier said she was very happy with her team, which is comprised almost entirely of juniors.
“I am so proud of the girls, of what they have achieved,” she said. “Coming from the bottom of the league the year before to the top two in a brand new league and making it to state – our goal was to place in the top two and make it to the state playoffs. They achieved that.”
She said she appreciated the contribution of one-time starter Emili Riggs, who was injured most of the season but still showed up to practice every day even though she was reduced to the role of manager and cheerleader.
“Emili Riggs was a really good inspiration for the girls,” Meier said. “That wasn’t the role she wanted to play.”
She said she expects the Huskies, who finished the season 13-6, to benefit from the experience they’ve gained in the playoffs.
“Next year we’ll go in more confident,” she said. “We won’t be so nervous. They were just a little scared out there. It makes a difference.”
“I think (this year) puts us in a really good spot. We have nine returning players, including all of the starters. We’ve been building on fundamentals and they’ve been having that experience and proving that they are good enough to play with these teams.
“They can go a lot further.”