Outlaws take crown at volleyball tournament

The Lady Outlaws volleyball team sailed right to the top to take championship honors at the Mt. View Tournament held on Friday, September 1.

Sisters dominated pool play with victories over Willamette, South Albany, and Redmond. They earned the first-place seed and got a bye in the first round.

The Outlaws faced Willamette again in the semi-finals and recorded the win in two sets with scores of 25-17 and 25-12.

Sisters swept the Ridgeview Ravens in the championship game 25-17, 25-14. The first set started off perfectly with a great block by Sam Silva and Erynn Ricker. The Outlaws got on the scoreboard and held the lead the entire way.

The Ravens came out with strong serves to start the second set and took a 4-1 lead over the Outlaws. Sisters rallied behind great serves from Kendra Sitz and stole the lead to go ahead 5-4. The Outlaws again maintained the lead until the final whistle blew.

Hawley Harrer led the team with eight kills, followed by Ashlynn Cantwell who recorded five. Sitz and Jessie Brigham combined for 15 digs.

Harrer led the Outlaws in the tournament with 41 total kills, 27 assists, 18 digs and seven aces. Brigham tallied 39 digs and served up nine aces. Cantwell had 20 kills, and Stiz finished with 18 digs and nine aces. Cassidy Ling-Scott dished out 39 assists.

Three days earlier, the Outlaws kicked off the season with a win over Crook County. Scores were 25-11, 25-14, 24-26, and 25-21.

Sam Silva sparked the Outlaws at the service line in the first set. Sisters was up 7-4 when Sam stepped up to the service line, and with perfect serves took the team to a 17-4 advantage. Silva finished at 100 percent from the service line on the night.

Jessie Brigham was solid and consistent at libero and had a great all-around game. Jessie recorded 15 digs, six assists, and served up one ace.

Harrer led the team with 21 kills, and also dished out 16 assists. Cantwell had 12 kills and three aces in the contest.

Ling-Scott finished with 23 assists, and Erynn Ricker posted six blocks.

New head coach Rory Rush was happy with the Lady Outlaws' first week of matches.

"We worked well together and did a nice job executing our offense," said Rush. "However, we also need to realize we need to focus on the little details of our game to compete with the top teams in the state. We are looking forward to putting in focused work this week to improve."

Sisters was to play at Bend High on Tuesday, September 5. The Outlaws will play at home against Summit on Thursday, September 7. Matches are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.