The Sweet Home volleyball team (1-4) faced a challenging week, dropping two matches against strong opponents. Despite the setbacks, the team displayed moments of excellence, offering promise for the rest of the season.
Sweet Home played a competitive four-set match versus Estacada (3-3), winning the second set but ultimately falling 3-1 on Monday, Sept. 16. The team’s serving performance stood out, with several players contributing. Sophia Stock served 14 of 15 with six aces. Natalie Smith went 11 for 12 with five aces. Trinity Victor added 12 successful serves out of 15, while Tiara Reynolds had three aces.
Reynolds was effective offensively, registering seven kills on about 20 hit attempts. Kiera Johnson had six kills on 16 swings, while Aubrey Newberry delivered two kills on six swings with no errors. Stock added six kills on 20 attempts.
Defensively, Miley Smith anchored the back row at left back, making key digs. Natalie Smith and Victor also provided backcourt coverage, helping keep the game close.
Victor tallied 17 assists on kills, while Natalie Smith added eight assists.
“Overall, we were disappointed we didn’t get a win,” said head coach Katie Dargis. “But there were a lot of strong things that came from that, and I was proud of the girls for being aggressive and swinging into them a lot. We will continue to make it harder on other teams’ defenses by getting stronger up there at the net.”
Sweet Home then faced a dominant Crook County (6-2) squad, falling in straight sets Tuesday, Sept. 17. Despite the loss, Natalie Smith continued to excel from the serving line, going 6 for 6.
“She is a very aggressive, strong server,” Dargis said. “It is helpful for us when she is serving 100% of her serves. She does some damage back there for us.”
Reynolds led the team in kills with five, but Sweet Home struggled against Crook County’s strong hitters.
“Crook County was a strong volleyball team,” Dargis said. “We went in hesitant and a little nervous. We were not as aggressive as we could’ve been and got caught on our heels in the back row. But we will use that information and have been working hard at practice to come back from that.”
Dargis emphasized the importance of learning from the tough matchups. Especially as the team goes into the Marist Invitational tournament.
“It’s really going to help our mental toughness and willingness to step up to play against those tough games and continue to grow,” she said.
Sweet Home will look to rebound in upcoming matches, focusing on improving offensive execution and defensive consistency. Many lessons were learned in their pre-league season. Including lessons the team took from the Marist Invitational Tournament that was held at Marist Catholic High School.
Although the girls kept their energies high throughout the tournament, Sweet Home ultimately fell 0-4 overall.
“Even though we had a loss on paper, we still had some great games against some tough teams,” Dargis said.
This tournament officially marked the end of the teams non-league season. Their first league match up was against Philomath (0-7) Sept. 24, with the following game Sept. 26 at Newport (3-6).
