Outlaws runner-up at home volleyball tournament

The girls volleyball team hosted the Sisters Invitational Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, September 21, and placed second, behind Cascade.

Sisters competed well throughout, against tough competition.

"Our level of play and our intensity were good all day long," said Coach Miki McFadden. "As we moved into bracket play we were very focused and played very well."

The Outlaws started the day in pool play against the Stayton Eagles and beat them in two games. Sisters then split with LaSalle with scores of 25-17, 25-17 and beat Tillamook 2-0 to finish pool play at 5-1.

Sisters matched up against LaSalle in the quarterfinals in bracket play and tallied a 25-17, 27-25 win. The Outlaws were down in the second set but buckled down and never gave up. Great rallies marked the conclusion of the set and proved to be Sisters' best set of the day.

In the semifinals the Outlaws played a smooth and consistent match to defeat Banks 25-15, 25-13.

The Outlaws moved on to the championship match but were unable to get a win against Cascade. Sisters handled the Cougars with ease in the first set to earn a 25-13 win but Cascade came back to win the second set 25-21. The match came down to the final set and toward the end the score was tied 13-13. Sisters was unable to hold on and Cascade scored two points for the win.

"We really had trouble with their tips, and this week we are definitely going to work on that," said McFadden.

Isabel Tara led the Outlaws with 48 kills in the tourney, followed by Nila Lukens who posted 44, in addition to nine blocks and nine aces.

Allie Spear recorded 27 kills, 14 digs and seven aces on the day. Alex Hartford racked up 96 assists and 18 aces, and Katelyn Meeter added 41 assists.

"We usually start with Alex at serving because she is so consistent," said McFadden. "She has a nice float serve and she gets lots of points from it. She also picks spots, has a nice short serve and really mixes it up."

Brooke Knirk recorded 23 kills and Savannah Spear led the defense with 36 digs.

"Both Savannah and Allie (Spear) are doing a great job passing," said McFadden. "Savannah's serve receive today was outstanding. She took most of the serves and put them on the target spot where the setter was running the offense."

McFadden also had praise for her top three kill leaders.

"Isabel (Tara), Nila (Lukens) and Allie (Spear) were consistent all day long," added McFadden. "They are definitely our go-to players. They had power kills that went straight down and they hit well around the

block."

Jesse Farr came in off the bench for the Outlaws and did a good job as defensive specialist. Farr played some great defense against LaSalle and finished the day with six aces and five

digs.

McFadden told The Nugget she wants the team to work on a few specifics this next week.

"Our hitters need to work on mixing up their shots, and we need to work on defending, mostly getting into position for off-speed shots," said McFadden.

The Outlaws are currently 2-0 in league and 8-3 overall.