Ken Roberts
For The New Era
Sweet Home’s volleyball team was hoping to be a little better prepared going into their first league match with Newport on Tuesday night, Sept. 23.
However, a rematch with Yamhill-Carlton did nothing to boost the Huskies’ confidence as they lost in straight games, 8-26, 14-25, and 19-25. The Huskies struggled throughout the night defensively and, on the other side, Y-C kept peppering them with a hitting attack Sweet Home could not handle.
“When we see a team that’s big,” said coach Debbie Danielson, “we tend to get intimidated and not play hard all the way through.”
Only in the third game was there a highlight for the Huskies. Trailing 10-22, they scored nine of the next 10 points, including back-to-back kills by freshmen Devyn Makin and Emili Riggs.
In their tournament at Sisters Saturday, Sweet Home had its moments but the end results just didn’t show it. Still, considering the high level of competition, there was improvement.
The Huskies opened slowly against perennially tough Marist, losing 17-21 and 7-21.
After falling to Estacada in the first game of the next match 15-21, Sweet Home began to assert itself, but was edged out 22-23.
The Huskies continued to play competitively, again dropping a one point game to Seaside 22-23 before winning their only game of the day 21-13.
Unfortunately, once into bracket play, Sweet Home couldn’t maintain its momentum and fell to Banks 15-25 and 17-25.
Throughout the tournament, the Huskies were led by Emili Riggs and Sam Johnson. Johnson received the Big Dawg team award for her all-around play. Riggs had a perfect day serving and produced the most kills. Both handled back row defensive chores as well, foiling the cross court hitting attack of Seaside.
When the team was playing well, their defense emerged. Their movement and transition allowed them to keep hard hit balls in play. Danielson also noted an improvement in the number of blocked shots.
“We have a good team of fighters,” stated Danielson. “I like having that attitude.
We just have to continue to get better each game.”
With the pre-season over, Danielson has had a chance to evaluate her talent and set the rotations for their league matches, starting with Newport at home. Having played Newport tough in a previous tournament, it gives Danielson hope to get off to a good start, which is especially important because she believes that beating the Cubs will give them a good chance to get into the state playoffs.
“We’re right there with them,” said Danielson. “We’re focusing on their one big player. If we can stop her, then we can win.”