Benny Westcott
Sweet Home volleyball’s season came to a close Tuesday, Nov. 2, in the 4A state quarterfinal, as the seventh-seeded Huskies fell to second-ranked Cascade 25-21, 25-15, 25-18 on the Cougars’ home court.
Four days later, Cascade would win the state championship, beating No. 1- ranked Sisters in five sets in the title match.
Sweet Home finished the regular season 12-6 overall and 9-3 in league play. They rolled over 10th-ranked Junction City in the round of 16 before losing to Cascade.
The quarterfinal match wasn’t Sweet Home’s first showdown with the Cougars. They lost to the state champions 2-0 in the Sisters tournament on Sept. 18, 3-0 at Cascade on Sept. 28, and 3-2 at home on Oct. 21.
In a “normal” season, the final eight state matches would have been played at a neutral location, and Sweet Home would have played at least one other placing match had they lost in the quarterfinals.
Due to ongoing pandemic restrictions, however, that was not the case this year, and five seniors – Chloe Tyler, Jamie Seward, Adaira Sleutel, Zoe Opperman and Kailee Pepple – played their last game for the green and gold at Cascade.
Sweet Home dug a hole for itself early in the first set against Cascade, going down 9-1. They then fought all the way back to tie up the score, before eventually coming up short in the first frame, which would be the closest of the three sets.
“We never seemed to find any consistency throughout the match,” said Head Coach Mary Hutchins. “We struggled even in the skills we were strong at. I am unsure if it was just one of those ‘off’ nights that you never want to have in a state playoff, or if nerves just got the better of us on this one night.”
Tyler said, “Everyone on Cascade is really consistent. They are full of solid players and are a tough team.”
She acknowledged that the quarterfinal match “definitely did not go exactly how we wanted it to.
“We didn’t play as well as we had been playing in other games. It was kind of disappointing, and not how I would have loved to end my season, the way we lost. Our pretty key players were just off that game.”
Opperman added that Sweet Home “psyched ourselves out a little bit. We let the moment get a little too big.” She said that “Our cohesiveness wasn’t there.”
Sophomore Brooklyn Hanni said Cascade is “a good team” and noted that “we fought hard.”
But she added that her squad “got in our own heads. We beat ourselves. We should have talked and we didn’t.”
“We had a really good season though,” the sophomore said. “We fought to be where we were.”
Junior Makayla Guthrie said the aftermath of the loss was “really emotional.”
“It was really sad the season had to come to an end,” but agreed with Hanni that “we had a really good season. A lot of people didn’t think we’d do good.”
“We exceeded everyone’s expectations,” Tyler added. “A lot of us didn’t expect to make it to state at the beginning of the season.”
Freshman Kaylynn Mamac, who spent the entire season on the varsity, said “‘it sucks that we lost, but I love that I got to play with the seniors.
“Having the feeling of my teammates around me is great. We were underdogs during the season. We lost to the two best teams in 4A [Cascade and Sisters].” (The team also lost an early season tournament game to 3A Santiam Christian.)
Hutchins was pleased overall with how the girls performed this year, especially since the Huskies only returned three starters from last year’s state championship squad.
“We essentially started the season with a brand new team,” said Hutchins. “The girls all joined together through adversity and worked hard to surprise a lot of people this season.”
“I know the incredible strength of our team and I am so proud of the way we came along this season,” the coach continued. “As I always say, to be the best you have to beat the best. We beat a lot of great teams this season. Teams that placed very high in the final rankings. We have nothing to hang our heads at.”
Indeed, Sweet Home beat Philomath twice, who finished third overall. And Sisters, whom Sweet Home beat in three sets at home, finished second in the state.
“Overall I can’t say enough great things about this team,” Hutchins said. “We overcame a ton of obstacles to lead us on an incredible journey this season. I have so much pride in our Sweet Home volleyball program and the kids who continually show up to better themselves and each other, and show up for their team.”