Volleyball sweeps Sweet Home and Elmira

Rongi Yost, Correspondent | Last updated Sep 27, 2011 12:0pm0

The Lady Outlaws opened league play at home against Sweet Home on Tuesday, September 20, and swept the Huskies in three straight sets with scores of 28-26, 25-17 and 25-21. Two days later, Sisters traveled to Elmira and took down the Falcons in three sets with scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-16.

Coach Diane Bremer told The Nugget that Sweet Home's volleyball program has made big strides over the last couple of years and the Outlaws wanted to be prepared for a tough match. The level of play proved to be competitive but the Huskies were not able to match the Outlaws offense.

Bailey Bremer led the Outlaws in kills in the match against the Huskies and recorded 12 kills on the night. Lizzy Carhart had 11 kills and three blocks and Kristina Sparling added six kills and one block. Megan Minke contributed three kills and three blocks.

Setter, Shannon Fouts, dished out 37 assists and had three aces at the service line. Sydney Stoneback led the team with 20 digs. Chelsea Reifschneider played tough front row defense and had seven digs for the Outlaws while Kristina Johns recorded six digs and two aces in the match. Savannah Spear came off the bench and contributed six digs and three aces. Samantha Williamson and Shelbi Thompson both had four digs on the night.

Two days later, the Outlaws defeated the Falcons at Elmira and took the match in three sets.

The Outlaws kept up a steady level of intensity throughout the match.

"We are doing a good job right now of keeping the offense spread at the net," said Bremer. "And, our defense was great tonight. For the first two games, Shannon (Fouts) and Sydney (Stoneback) were running neck and neck for digs. Shannon played a lot of defense for us tonight, giving secondary setter Kristina Sparling a lot of setting opportunities."

Stoneback led the team with 20 digs on the night while Fouts logged 14 digs and 21 assists.

Kill leader for the night was Lizzy Carhart with nine kills. Carhart also had a great performance at the net with five blocks. Reifschneider, Bremer, Minke and Sparling added four kills each. Minke came up with three huge blocks for the Outlaws and Sparling recorded two.

"Lizzy (Carhart) is really playing well for us and showing the leadership we need on and off the court," stated Bremer.

Thompson stepped onto the court in game three against the Falcons and gave the Outlaws two big aces and eight digs.

Spear was solid in the back row and added six digs in the match. Williamson had an incredible night at the service line and went 14/14.

The Outlaws wrapped up their first week of league with a 2-0 record and are currently 8-2 overall.

Sisters will play at home against Cottage Grove on Thursday, September 29. The varsity match is set to start at 6:45 p.m.

Lady Outlaws take second at Invitational

The Lady Outlaws hosted the annual Sisters Invitational Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, September 24, with 15 teams from around the state in attendance including Cascade, Newport, Estacada, Seaside, Burns, Stayton, Vale, Sweet Home, Banks, LaSalle, Central, Henley, Tillamook, North Bend, and Yamhill Carlton.

Sisters started off pool play with a 21-19, 21-14 win over Estacada. The Outlaws continued to dominate and beat Newport 21-3, 21-11 and then defeated Cascade 21-8, 21-13 to finish pool play as the No. 1 seed.

The Outlaws then faced Tillamook in the quarterfinals. The Outlaws and the Cheesemakers had a well-fought match, but the Outlaws prevailed with scores of 25-17 and 26-24.

In the semi-finals, Sisters easily handled the Henley Hornets, with scores of 25-15 and 25-16.

Coach Diane Bremer told The Nugget that the match with Henley was a bit easier for the Outlaws and gave them some breathing room before moving on to the championship match against 3A Burns.

"The Sisters Invitational has a long history of having Burns reach the finals," said Bremer. "We were looking forward to the match."

The Outlaws came out strong and took game one 25-21, but the Highlanders battled back and claimed game two 25-16. Burns committed fewer errors in the final game to win the game 15-12 and walk away with first-place honors.

Bremer said, "I was very pleased with the level of volleyball we played all day. We ended a little short of where we'd like to have finished. All in all it was a good opportunity to work on our game."

Sisters was very tough offensively throughout the tournament. Lizzy Carhart (6'0") led the offense with 34 kills.

"Lizzy is really proving to be a force at the net," stated Bremer. "She is playing smart with her attacks."

Bailey Bremer recorded 27 kills for the Outlaws, Megan Minke contributed 25 kills and Kristina Sparling finished the day with 19. Chelsea Reifschneider had nine kills and Michaela Meeter added four kills for Sisters.

Freshman Nila Lukens came off the bench and had four great kills in the Outlaws' game against Newport. Jen Houk was perfect from the service line against Newport, and went 6/6.

Dig leader for the day was Sydney Stoneback, who had 56 digs, followed by Shelbi Thompson, who finished with 23. Shannon Fouts had 18 digs, and Samantha Williamson recorded 11. Fouts also dished out 74 assists in the tournament.

Sisters is 2-0 in league and 10-3 overall. The Outlaws will play at home against Cottage Grove on Thursday, September 29. The varsity match is set to begin at 6:45â¯p.m.