Volleyball team moves into first place

The Lady Outlaws volleyball team moved into first place in the league standings after their victories over Elmira and Junction City (JC). Sisters crushed Elmira at home on Tuesday, October 2, with scores of 25-6, 25-9 and 25-10. Two days later Sisters beat Junction City in four games. Scores were 25-20, 25-15, 12-25 and 25-23.

The highlight of Tuesday's game with the Falcons was an outside attack by Shea Kotal in game three.

"That was one of the hardest swings I've ever seen Shea take," said Coach Diane Bremer. "She got the crowd energized with that one."

Rachael Tenneson led the Outlaws with 10 kills, and Fee Pledger added eight. Haylee Schaab, Emily Douglass and Lani Milroy each contributed four kills.

Sam Stoneback dished out 20 assists, and Dani Thompson added nine for the night. Stoneback also had a solid performance at the service line going 17 for 18. Pledger was perfect from the line going nine for nine, including three aces. Kali Ulmer went nine for 10 from the line, and Aria Garau led Sisters with five digs.

"Our goal was to 'play up' and the girls did a really good job of capitalizing on every ball they gave us, " said Bremer.

Two days later the Outlaws traveled to JC and walked away with a win over the Tigers.

Bremer told The Nugget that the Outlaws knew JC was a scrappy team and one that doesn't give up a lot of points on errors. Sisters knew they would have to play a very aggressive game with their hitters and get the job done at the net.

The Outlaws had control of games one and two. In game one Sisters jumped out to an early 12-3 lead. In game two the Lady Outlaws had an even stronger performance and won by a 10-point spread.

Sisters had some errors early in game three and let the game get away from them. In game four the Outlaws showed some great hustle mid-way through. The ball was all but down near the back wall, and two contacts later Sisters managed to get it back over the net.

"This really energized our team and gave us momentum," said Bremer. "This was an emotional win for us. Many of my girls had tears of happiness streaming down their faces after this match. They really wanted this one!"

The Lady Outlaws participated in the annual Seaside Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, October 6.

Fifteen teams from around the state were present including No. 1 ranked Estacada, No. 2 ranked LaGrande and No. 4 ranked Sisters.

Sisters started their pool play with a match against Banks and won both games with scores of 25-17 and 25-17. The Outlaws came out strong and played steady the entire match. The Outlaws went on to defeat Philomath in two games, 25-7 and 25-19.

"Haley Schaab had a phenomenal game," said Bremer. "They (Philomath) didn't put up much of a block, and she had a heyday out there."

The Outlaws matched up against No. 1 ranked Estacada in their third and final game of pool play. Sisters won the first game 25-23 and then lost the second game 16-25.

"We'd been looking forward to this match all week, and we were really fired up," said Bremer. "They're a very good team, took second at state last year and have an incredible middle blocker. I think they were a little rattled in game one, and the game went back and forth. It was full of great offensive play and just a great match."

In game two Estacada pulled away on some unforced Outlaw errors to earn the win.

"We really felt good about our performance, and we gained confidence," said Bremer. "Hopefully, we'll get another shot down the road and get to play them again."

Sisters was in the same pool with Estacada and both teams ended with a 5-1 record. Since Estacada beat Sisters by a larger point spread in the second game, they claimed first place in pool play and Sisters finished second.

The Outlaws went on to play La Salle in the quarterfinals and won the match in two games, 25-16 and 25-17. The Outlaws advanced to the semi-finals and played No. 2 ranked La Grande. The Outlaws lost 20-25 and 18-25.

"Our team played very hard against them (La Grande)," said Bremer. "La Grande came out very fired up, executed their offense extremely well and really kept it mixed up."

La Grande went on to take championship honors, and Estacada placed second.