News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The Outlaws started their championship run Thursday with a 15-4, 15-8 victory over Junction City at Lane Community College.
The Outlaws advanced to face Philomath in Friday's afternoon match. Coach Rod Jones admitted to feeling nervous going into that second game after seeing Philomath crush a strong Henley team.
But the Outlaws rose to the occasion, dismantling Philomath 15-2, 15-3.
"It was just vintage volleyball," Jones said. "It was as good as anything I've seen in my career. They were in a zone and they just went off."
Shelley Greene worked off Heather Dempsey's rock-solid setting game to record 15 kills. Suzanne Fouts contributed eight kills and Greene, Fouts and Dempsey served up 12 aces, maintaining the strong serving game they carried through the whole tournament.
After the Philomath match, Jones said, "they knew they could play with anybody."
That confidence may have been shaken a bit Friday evening as Sisters dropped to 1-6 against defending champion La Salle, but the Outlaws rallied behind the outstanding play of Suzanne Fouts to pull out a 15-12, 15-9 win.
Fouts recorded a team tournament high of 16 kills in the match. Kelly Davis and Shelley Greene contributed strong play in a match that the Outlaws controlled throughout, giving up points mostly on unforced errors.
Making the finals may have disoriented the Outlaws squad; they came out flat in the final match Saturday night against Estacada and got into trouble early.
The Outlaws went down 7-0, rallied to a 10-10 tie and tied again at 12-12 before three straight unforced errors cost them the game 12-15. But the rallies made for a subtle turn in momentum and it carried over into the next two games.
"The momentum had changed," Jones said. "They knew they belonged there."
The Outlaws bounced back for a convincing 15-5 second game win. The fell behind early in the third, but never relaxed their grip on the game, taking control and powering to a 15-8 victory to win the tournament.
Sisters volleyball fans turned out in large and vocal numbers, boosting the team to a high level of play.
"The Sisters community was awesome this weekend," Jones said.
The championship fulfilled the high expectations for the Sisters program that arrived with Jones, one of the nation's top volleyball coaches. Jones is accustomed to victory, and the Outlaws started their season with their eyes on the prize.
"You don't expect anything else," Jones said. "You don't expect anything less. You go in expecting to be in the show."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
Reader Comments(0)