Coming off a loss to Cascade, Sweet Home’s volleyball players got busy last week in matchups with Philomath and Sisters, coming away with wins in both matches.
At Philomath Tuesday, Oct. 5, which sat in fourth place in the Oregon West League going into this week, the Huskies, with seniors Jamie Seward, Adaira Sleutel and Chloe Tyler back in the lineup after missing the previous three matches, found themselves in a tough matchup before pulling away for a 3-2 victory.
“Philomath came out strong and confident,” Coach Mary Hutchins said. Sweet Home opened with a 25-15 win, but the Warriors, bolstered by their home crowd, came back to win the next two sets 27-25, 29-27.
“We executed early and then got down in the second set,” Hutchins said. “We came all the way back and had the opportunity to win, but we didn’t convert” thanks to some “late mistakes.”
“The third set was neck-and-neck the whole time and they just outlasted us by two points.”
Sweet Home came back to win the next two 25-19, 15-13.
“We took control in the fourth set and the fifth set was a lot of point runs and momentum shifts and we hung on for the win,” Hutchins said.
Seward and Sleutel “blocked well” for the Huskies and provided “a lot of offense,” she said.
“All the kids on the team did their part; it was truly a team effort to win and a big show of perseverance.”
Sweet Home 3, Sisters 0
At home Thursday, Oct. 7, the Huskies were facing the No. 1 team in the OSAA ranking system, which had defeated Sweet Home handily at home in three sets three weeks previously,
This time, with more experience and some focused preparation, the Huskies were ready, and, added impetus provided by a boisterous home crowd of their own, exited the Main Gym with a 25-20, 25-12, 25-18 win.
“Shout out to our great crowd and student section,” Hutchins noted.
“We practiced with some specific goals in mind,” she said. “We executed on blocking serve-receive and defense.
“We have been asking a lot of Kailee Pepple and she really stepped up and is working hard to consistently deliver the ball to our hitters.
“Chloe Tyler had a great game defensively and, of course, Jamie and Adaira continued where they left off from Tuesday.
“Kendra Jamison had some key moments and several others stepped up and did their job.”
The Huskies, she said, truly depend on every team member “every night.”
“I have been so proud of this whole team. They have had a lot of adversity and I have had some young and/or varsity inexperienced kids really step up in big games and big ways to help our team succeed.
“It was a great win Sisters is a very strong, worthy opponent and I expect them to go far this season I can’t stress enough how everyone in our program has really been willing to go and practice hard to help their team out this season.”
Also notable: Sweet Home’s junior varsity players took home a three-set win of their own against Sisters.
Up next for the Huskies (7-2, 8-4) are road games at Stayton (3-6, 7-10) and Newport (2-6, 2-9) this week, followed by their regular-season finale at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21 at home against current No. 1-ranked and league-leading Cascade (7-1, 15-3).