Volleyball team finishes as tournament champs

For the first time in the tournament's history, the Lady Outlaws took first place at the annual Sisters Invitational last weekend

Sixteen teams from around the state attended the event, including Banks, Cascade, Vale, Yamhill-Carlton, Burns, LaSalle, Pleasant Hill, Marist, Estacada, Seaside, Sweet Home, Central, Henley, Tillamook, Stayton and Sisters.

Sisters went undefeated in pool play against Banks, Cascade and Vale and advanced to the quarterfinals against Cascade. The Outlaws beat Cascade 25-12, 25-16.

The Outlaws faced Central in the semi-finals.

"We've been thinking about Central since last year," said Coach Diane Bremer. "We played them non-league last year at their house and lost in a battle of a five-game match. We were fired up and thrilled to be playing them in this format at our house. Central is very talented and they are a tall and quick team."

The Outlaws earned the win over the Panthers with scores of 25-19 and 25-20.

The win put Sisters in the championship match with back-to-back 3A state champions, Burns. The Outlaws snapped Burns 97 game winning streak with scores of 25-21 and 28-26.

"Our team really rose to the occasion and stepped up our blocking and defense to make us successful today," said Bremer. "Winning this tournament is such a great stepping stone for us. We now need to focus on league play and take care of business."

In other action, the Lady Outlaws split their games for the week with a loss at Marist on Tuesday, September 16, and a win at La Pine two days later.

Sisters battled hard at Marist but lost the match with scores of 25-23, 23-25, 25-27 and 12-25.

Coach Diane Bremer said, "It was a well-played match until game four when we just starting cascading downward with some errors, but up until that point it was a great volleyball match. Marist was firing on all cylinders and we were battling back."

Sisters did not play well defensively and the Spartans capitalized on every opportunity.

Haylee Schaab led the Outlaws with 15 kills for the night followed by Fe Pledger who finished with 10 kills. Setter Kaity Douglass logged 26 assists and libero Jessie Snow had 21 digs.

Two days later the Outlaws defeated La Pine 25-20, 25-15 and 25-8.

La Pine jumped out to an early lead but once the Outlaws got rolling there was no stopping them. Sisters never looked back and easily won the match.

"La Pine has improved a lot since we saw them at the jamboree," said Bremer. "We played this match with a lot of enthusiasm and a vengeance for having dropped a match to Marist two days earlier."

The Outlaws will host Junction City on Thursday, September 25.