Lady Outlaws sting Hornets

The Lady Outlaws defeated the Henley Hornets at home on Saturday, October 28, in the first round of the state playoffs. After two weeks off, Sisters was a bit sluggish, but after four sets of play they tallied the win.

Sisters played without all-libero Jessie Brigham, who was out with a sprained ankle and hand injury. Sydney Head stepped in and took over the libero position.

In the first set, the Outlaws started slow and lethargic, and were adjusting to a new libero. They were down 5-10, and called a time-out to try and settle down and regroup. From there, the score went back-and-forth until Ellie Rush went back to serve with the Outlaws trailing 12-14. When Rush finished, the Outlaws were on top 16-14, and never trailed in the set again. Final score was 25-18.

The second set started similar to the first. Sisters' hitters struggled to keep the ball in the court and recorded numerous hitting errors. Due to the errors, the Outlaws never found their groove, and lost the set 23-25.

Sisters finally settled down in game three. Hawley Harrer led the charge with a serving run of seven points to give the Outlaws an 11-5 advantage, and an early control of the game. Harrer also had six kills in the 25-15 winning set.

The Outlaws took an early lead behind the serving of Harrer and Samantha Silva in the fourth set. Great serving sucked the wind out Henley's sails and the Outlaws put them away 25-16.

Harrer finished the game with 20 kills, 14 assists, and four blocks, followed by Ashlynn Cantwell, who recorded 12 kills and two blocks. Erynn Ricker tallied nine blocks and three kills, and Sam Silva had 11 kills in the match. Ellie Rush dished out 17 assists for the Outlaws, and Sydney Head had 11 digs. Together, the team had nine serving aces.

Coach Rory Rush said, "It was good to finally play again tonight. I was proud of the girls for handling adversity and coming away with the win. We are ready to get into the gym on Monday and focus on cleaning up some small details before we head to the state

tournament."

The Outlaws will play in the first-round game of the state playoffs on Friday, November 3, at 8 a.m. in Forest Grove.