Club volleyball wraps up season

The Outlaw Volleyball Club recently wrapped up a very successful season. This year the Outlaws had three teams in the 12U division, two teams in the 14U division and one team in the 16U division.

Teams played against other local club teams including Rim Rock (Prineville), Oregon Volleyball Academy (Bend), Juniper Volleyball Club (Redmond), Southern Deschutes Volleyball Club (La Pine), Cherry City Volleyball Club (The Dalles) and Prairie City Volleyball Club (John Day). Each team in all three divisions played a total of six tournaments from January through the beginning of March.

The three teams in the 12U division, Outlaws' Black, Red and White, were mainly fifth- and sixth-grade girls with a few third- and fourth-grade girls on the roster as well.

Outlaws' Black, in particular, had an exceptional season. Players on the squad were Megan Greaney, Gabby Martinez, Sydney Nason, Kendra Sitz, Flynn Slicker, Mya St. Clair, Alexa Stewart, Samantha Silva and Adelyn Myhre.

This young Outlaws team only lost a couple of sets the entire season and won every tournament that they entered. They capped their year with top honors at the Rim Rock Invitational Tournament held on March 10, in Prineville. Outlaws Black beat the top Rim Rock team in the championship game in two sets with scores of 15-8, 15-13.

Coach John Myhre said, "The biggest joy for me and the rest of the coaching staff was to see the team perform so well under pressure and to execute the offense like they'd been practicing. They had a tremendous season and to cap it off with this win made it special.

"The girls really grasped the idea of running an offense and letting the days of ping pong volleyball go away," added Myher. "The serving for the whole tournament was tremendous and all of the girls recorded a lot of aces."

Myhre told The Nugget that the sixth-grade girls will move to 14U next season and will join a very strong volleyball group that will be exciting to watch in the future.

The Outlaws Red and White teams are more than capable of keeping the momentum going at their level. According to Myhre, these teams played very consistent all season and learned much through practice and tournament play.

"For the younger girls it is less about winning and more about getting the game experience and to increase their individual skills," said Myhre. "It was important for these girls to know that the level that they are at right now is the same level that the older girls were when they were their age."

Rachelle Myhre and Jordan Williams helped Jason Myhre with the coaching responsibilities for the 24 girls who made up the 12U division. Myhre noted that the number of girls made for crowded practices but were a lot of fun, and skill development was achieved, which was their main goal.