Lady Outlaws compete for state title

The Lady Outlaws took care of business at home on Saturday, November 5, and defeated Baker in three straight sets in the first round of the state playoffs. Sisters, for the fifth straight year, will head to Lane Community College and compete against seven other teams for the state title.

"This is when it gets really fun and a great time of celebration for our community," said Coach Diane Bremer. "We hope to have a huge crowd there to cheer us on!"

In Saturday's match, Sisters beat the Baker Bulldogs, the No. 2 team from the Greater Oregon League, with scores of 25-17, 25-13, and 25-17.

The Outlaws started off the first set a bit slow on both offense and defense, but they hit their stride midway through and were in control from that point on.

Coach Diane Bremer noted the exceptional play of libero Sydney Stoneback.

"Sydney played an immaculate match," said Bremer. "She was so focused and precise in her game today. That really led the way for the offense to do their job."

Bailey Bremer was on fire at the net for the Outlaws and logged a season-high 16 kills. Megan Minke contributed 11 kills and five blocks in the middle, and Michaela Meeter added six big blocks and one kill as well.

Chelsea Reifschneider had six kills and a very notable swing in game three that Bremer called "a sweet crush down the line." Kristina Sparling had four kills and one block in the match.

Shannon Fouts dished out 35 assists, contributed four kills and also served up six aces against the Bulldogs. Samantha Williamson had two great jump serves to finish off the match.

Stoneback led the defense with 28 digs, followed by Shelbi Thompson, who logged 11 in the match, and Fouts, who recorded 10.

Jenny Houk came in for the second set and had a great performance at left back with five digs, and also went 6/6 from the service line. Kristina Johns recorded six digs and one kill, and Williamson added three digs for the Outlaws. Meeter, Reifschneider and Bremer each contributed two digs in the match.

"This was a great match for us," stated Bremer. "The girls were focused and played with a great deal of intensity. Shannon (Fouts) did a good job of finding the successful combinations that worked for us."

Bremer added, "Baker was a good defensive team and didn't give us a lot of free balls. They were hitting everything, and our defense aggressively turned those into scoring opportunities for us."

Last week, the Lady Outlaws beat Central at home in a play-in game on Saturday, October 29. Sisters swept the match with scores of 25-15, 25-15 and 25-18.

Sisters took control of the match from the very beginning and never let up.

Shannon Fouts got the Outlaws off to a great start and served five straight to give Sisters a 5-0 lead. Shannon was tough at the service line again at the start of the third set and took the Outlaws to a 6-0 lead. Fouts finished up the match going 20/22 with five aces and also dished out 24 assists and recorded seven digs, three blocks and three kills.