Sweet Home’s volleyball season ended Saturday, Oct. 29, with a first-round state playoff loss at Henley.
The Huskies finished 13-7.
It wasn’t an easy week, even the Huskies’ 3-1 win over Junction City in a play-in game Tuesday, Oct. 25.
Sweet Home 3, Junction City 1
The Huskies fell behind out of the gate in both of the first two games, but after Coach Mary Hutchins called time outs, they got back on track and put the Tigers away, 25-22, 25-18. In Game 3, the visitors managed to hold on for a 25-22 win before Sweet Home roared back to take the match with a 25-11 score in the fourth game.
“Junction City comes from a stronger league and they had been gaining some momentum near the end of the season,” Hutchins said, noting that she “watched a lot of film.”
Also, she said, the Huskies had been dealing with illness and some missing players within their ranks during the previous week, “so we worked on different lineup options and the kids responded very well.”
“I thought Junction City had a lot of grit and really came out fired up and fighting,” Hutchins said, noting that the visitors had gotten some injured players back into their lineup.
“We had to make some adjustments during the game. The girls did a good job of controlling their nerves and taking care of business and really sticking to the game plan.”
She said the Huskies were “really” determined to make the first round “and it’s always a goal to defend the home court.”
“We were excited to win and place ourselves on the state bracklet – a huge accomplishment for this team,” she said, noting that the majority of Sweet Home’s players were in their first year on varsity.
Henley 3, Sweet Home 0
The long trip to Klamath Falls wasn’t a plus and it wasn’t a chosen destination for the 10th-seeded Huskies as they took on seventh-seeded Henley (14-4) Saturday.
“We watched a lot of film in the days leading up to the game and we got everyone back from illness and had some very good practices,” Hutchins said.
“The girls did a great job with the travel and, honestly, through the first set and the first 10 to 12 points of the second set, we were right there, competing well.”
Then the hosts got on a run, thanks to some unforced errors on the part of Sweet Home and “I felt like the wheels came off the bus at that point,” Hutchins said.
The Huskies lost the first set 25-20 and the second 25-14.
“We struggled after that, getting a block up outside and, honestly, just had some uncharacteristic plays and decision-making,” she said.
Sweet Home lost the final game 25-9.
Hutchins said some of her players struggled mentally when they fell behind and “did not respond in the best way to the pressure.
“We kind of fell apart in the last set.
“I feel we have the talent to compete better than we did in the second half of this game,” she added.
This year’s Huskies may have lacked the experience and height that other teams bring to the playoffs, but Hutchins said that, overall, she was “very, very proud of the girls and all their accomplishments they had as a team this season.”
The team set a goal at the beginning of the year to make the state tournament and they accomplished that, taking second in the Oregon West Conference along the way.
“After the game at Henley I told them this game will not be a missed opportunity, as long as we learn from our mistakes and are able to grow from them and use them for more success in the coming seasons,” Hutchins said.
“They had many, many successes this season and grew as players mentally.”
She added that she appreciated the support from the community.
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