Going into this week, Sweet Home’s volleyball team was solidly in second place in the Oregon West Conference, behind defending state champion Cascade, following road wins over North Marion and Stayton.
Sweet Home beat North Marion 3-0 on Tuesday, Oct. 4, making short work of the other Huskies in the OWC, winning 25-18, 25-8, 25-4.
“North Marion was a good game to work on our skills and things we have been doing in practice,” Coach Mary Hutchins said.
On Thursday, Oct. 6, things got a lot tougher at Stayton as the Eagles took Sweet Home to the wire, before the Huskies escaped with a 3-2 win following a see-saw match, 25-19, 15-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-11.
Hutchins said it was teamwork that made the difference for Sweet Home.
“We knew Stayton was going to be a very tough challenge,” she said. “We are very similar teams with a variety of skills. This has been the first time all season we have had to go five sets and really keep fighting for every point, with no letup.
“The girls responded and never gave up. There were several times we had to come back from a deficit to win and I felt like different teammates stepped up at the right times to help the team accomplish the goal.”
She said that her players stepped up to fill the gaps.
“Team sports have to be a very unselfish thing,” Hutchins said. “When someone is struggling, then someone else needs to step up and take on more responsibility and vice versa and I felt like set to set, point to point, that was happening on this team. Very proud of them.”
The Huskies (5-1, 10-4) going into this week, took on then-No. 3 Cascade (6-0, 11-3) on the road Tuesday, Oct. 10, before a return home Thursday for a Homecoming match-up with Newport. They will finish out the regular season on the Road at Philomath Oct. 18 before celebrating Senior Night against North Marion Oct. 20 at home.