Ken Roberts
For The New Era
The Husky volleyball team came away with mixed results in their season opener in their own Sweet Home Invitational tournament Saturday.
In the two-game format in pool play, the Huskies played tentatively in their first match with McKay, losing 15-25 and 22-25.
In Game One, the team played inconsistently with runs of unforced errors mixed in with solid plays. Though the Huskies played better in the second game, they had difficulty finding a surefire weapon in the front row. Strong passing, especially by Sam Pierce and team serving helped them stay close to the Scots, but McKay countered with more offensive weapons at the net and in their serving.
?We need to put the ball away a little more,? said Head Coach Debbie Danielson.
?We are just putting it over instead of putting it down hard.?
In the next two matches, Sweet Homewas able to take advantage of much weaker opponents, Elmira and Vernonia, to boost the team?s confidence. Julie Burcham, the Husky setter, went to middle hitter Cait Thireault often in the first game against Elmira as the Huskies jumped out to a quick lead. The serving of Michelle Cliver and Hannah Swanson kept the Falcons on their heels. That combined with the well-placed hits of Chelsea Gagner helped Sweet Home coast to a 25-11 victory.
In game two, Swanson opened with a run of ten blistering serves deep into the Falcon back row and Dani Thireault added another five after that to put the game out of reach. Ashlee Flanagan led the front row attack to give the Huskies a 25-9 win.
The final match in pool play was somewhat closer against Vernonia as the Huskies disposed of the Loggers, 25-22, 25-14 to give them a second place finish in their pool. Danielson said she was pleased that in their two victories the Huskies didn?t sink to the level of play of their opponents.
?That was one of our goals, to play a crisp game and not play down,? she said. ?We got to work on some of our plays and set up our offense. That?s the time to do it.?
In championship play, Sweet Home took on Philomath, the third-place team from what turned out to be a stronger pool. Early in the afternoon match, some of the same inconsistencies plagued the Huskies as they fell behind early 9-4.
A serving run by Cliver drew Sweet Home back to within two. Then some key tips at the net by Gagner and Cait Thireault along with strong serving by Erica Snow gave them enough momentum to take the lead at 19-17. From there, however, Philomath dominated at the net and the Huskies had trouble getting into their offense as the Warriors closed strong to win 25-20.
In the second game, both teams had service troubles and made many unforced errors, but the Huskies just made a few more miscues than the Warriors. Jessalyn Seiber had a couple of kills to keep the Huskies hanging in, but a series of net infractions and mishits put Sweet Home in a deep hole. After two solid corner hits by Philomath, the Huskies seem to lose their fire as they lost 25-15 to end their weekend.
Danielson felt the Huskies played up to Philomath?s level of play, especially in the first match.
?We just started making mental mistakes and started overthinking,? said Danielson. ?I left one lineup in during one game and another lineup in the second game. Maybe there could have been somebody on the bench who could have gotten it done, but tournaments are time to see what players can and can?t do.?
Service reception was a highlight in Danielson?s mind and it allowed the Huskies to get into their offense more often. However, Danielson hopes to have an attack in place that can finish the job at the net.
?Our setting will have to be in a more consistent spot so we can just go up and swing away,? noted Danielson.
But overall, the coach sees this as being a team that can improve to the next level over the year.
?They already have one of the biggest steps down where they get along really well and they work well together,? said Danielson. ?That?s half the battle.?
The Huskies revisited Philomath at home again on Tuesday but will head for an extended road trip starting with a match at Toledo on Thursday, another tournament in Scappoose on Saturday, and one more trip to the coast against Newport next Tuesday.