Lady Outlaws repeat as league champs

A large and noisy crowd cheered on the Lady Outlaws as they swept Marist in three games in a tiebreaker match to capture the Sky-Em title. Final scores were 25-8, 25-20 and 25-14.

Sisters will host a second round state playoff match on Saturday, November 1. The winner of that match will advance to Lane Community College for the final rounds of the state playoffs on November 7-8.

Sisters dominated game one in the tiebreaker match against Marist on Thursday, October 24 and won the set by 17 points. Game two was much tighter.

A huge hustle play and momentum builder was a shanked ball off the court to the Outlaws bench that was chased down by Dani Thompson. Thompson hit the ball straight up into the air and freshman Sydney Stoneback, with her back to the net, got the ball over on the third hit.

"That was a show of just how badly these girls wanted this match and the banner for league champions!" said Coach Diane Bremer.

Unforced errors by the Outlaws in game three allowed Marist to jump out to a 7-2 advantage. That quickly changed when Shea Kotal stepped up to the service line and served 10 straight to push Sisters to a 12-7 lead.

"Shea has been a pivotal server for us all season," said Bremer.

The Outlaws continued to maintain control of the game, setting a fast pace. Two key solo blocks came from Courtney Satko and Thompson.

"Those two blocks were huge as Marist was hitting from deeper in the court and these girls were up at the net and blocked it straight to the ground," said Bremer.

Sisters continued to control the game and won by 11 in a final score of 25-14.

The Outlaws defense showed up in force with incredible digs by Kaity Douglass, Fe Pledger, Justine Head and Jessie Snow. Dig stats on the night were: Snow (16), Pledger (13), Head (7), Douglass (6), Haylee Schaab (4) and Stoneback (3).

Kaity Douglass had hot hands as setter and dished out 23 assists on the night.

Schaab led the offense with 15 kills and three blocks.

"Haylee was fired up and was lethal at the net," said Bremer. "She knows how to win in big matches and tonight was no exception."

Pledger put up a solid performance on offense and defense and finished the night with 12 kills. Kotal contributed four kills and Kaiser added four kills and two blocks. Satko had two kills and one block.

The Lady Outlaws were surprised and very excited to see the cross country team arrive and cheer them on after they had finished up their competition at districts.

"It was a huge boost to see all those Sisters students walk in after the match had begun and join our awesome frosh and JV teams to cheer like no other," said Bremer.

After notching the win Kotal said, "It was a feeling of relief when we finally won. Now we can focus our attention on the playoffs."

Two days earlier, the Lady Outlaws set up the championship showdown with a brutal two-hour battle against Cottage Grove in the last league match of the season. Final scores were 26-24, 16-25, 25-12 and 25-20.

Sisters struggled at the start of the match and had some unforced errors that prevented them from playing at the top of their game. The contest was neck and neck all the way with 13 ties in the set. Fe Pledger drilled the ball to the back of the court to seal game one.

In game two Cottage Grove took control and midway through the set went on a 6-0 run and took an 18-12 lead and went on to win the set. Courtney Satko came off the bench and her performance catapulted the Lady Outlaws into a better position in game three.

"Courtney was on fire at the net and hit balls straight to the floor," said Bremer. "She was a student of the game up to that point and had a plan how to score with her hard angle shot,"

Kotal said, "After that loss we really started to support and encourage each other more. We started covering more, picked up the tips and picked up our defense."

The third game belonged to the Outlaws. Jessie Snow went seven in a row from the service line and Kotal served for five straight points. In the fourth set Haylee Schaab took the Outlaws from a 15-13 deficit to a 20-15 lead. Pledger returned to the game with a vengeance and put up some great swings and huge blocks. Sisters pushed to a 24-16 advantage and match point.

Match point was intense with hard hitting and digs that kept the ball alive for an extremely long rally.

"Both teams were giving it all they had and not letting go," said Bremer.

Two Outlaws players collided and Cottage Grove got the point. CG scored two more when Sisters was called for a lift and then for four touches on the ball. CG managed to close Sisters' lead to 24-20 but then Pledger slammed down a kill for the win.

Pledger was the Outlaws kill leader for the night with 16. Schaab had 10 kills, Jenny Kaiser contributed eight kills and Satko added five.

Kaity Douglass recorded 27 assists and Dani Thompson added 13.

The defense tallied up numerous digs. Snow logged 35 digs and Schaab, Pledger and Douglass all contributed 15.

"We don't usually get this many digs between our defense. It was just another indicator that this was a battle of a match," said Bremer.

Bremer told The Nugget that senior Jenny Kaiser exhibited excellent leadership and composure in the match. Kaiser had four huge blocks and executed well in the middle.

Kaiser said, "Everything seemed to fall into place for me tonight. I had my timing down with the sets and kept my head in the game. Even when we were behind I didn't let myself get down. Kudos to the rest of the team for pulling it out at the end."

Bremer stated that depth and versatility continue to be the Outlaws greatest strength.

"I'm so proud of these girls for keeping this a team effort and not letting down," said Bremer.