Ken Roberts
For The New Era
Sweet Home played both ends of the league last week, the undefeated Central Panthers on Monday and the winless Philomath Warriors at home on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, the result ended up being the same. First, the Panthers showed their strength by sailing easily past the Huskies, 25-11, 25-14, and 25-15, even though coach Debbie Danielson said that Central was not playing at its highest level.
More disappointing than that, however, was the loss to Philomath. The Warriors set the tone in the first game by digging up nearly everything the Huskies threw at them, waiting for Sweet Home to make an error. The Huskies accommodated them by making numerous unforced errors that allowed Philomath to steadily pull away for an opening 25-18 victory.
The Huskies bounced back in the second game. This time it was Philomath’s turn to create its own problems.
Sara Brocard provided some power and Kami Walker provided some smart net play toward the end to earn the victory 25-20.
After trailing early in the third game, Sweet Home evened the score at 20, thanks to a kill, tip and block from Walker. After that, however, the Warriors took over the net, running off the next four points with a combination of good plays. A final kill gave Philomath a 25-22 winning margin.
In the final game, the Huskies were never in it. An early run of 11 points for Philomath put Sweet Home in a hole from which they could never recover. The highly charged Warriors brought the hammer down with a final kill for a 25-19 win and their first league victory.
“What they are going to remember is how they finished the year,” said Danielson, who believes the team, and especially the seniors, must find purpose in performing well, despite not having a goal to advance after regular-season play.
The Huskies, now 2-7 in league, have a single road match next week at Taft on Tuesday.