Three sets of Sisters served Outlaws squad

This year's Sisters Outlaws volleyball squad delivered on the "sisters" portion of their monicker in a literal sense.

Three sets of sisters played for the team, which capped a strong season with a third-place showing at the state championships in early November.

Kendra and Natalie Sitz; Sydney and Adelyn Myhre; and Samantha and Sophie Silva all played together for the Outlaws. The sibling sets contributed strongly to the team's spirit.

"I think it would have been a tight team no matter what," Coach Rory Rush told The Nugget, when asked if the siblings made for greater team chemistry.

However, she acknowledged, the relationships did have an impact on how the team interacted. The sisters could be more direct in motivating each other and perhaps push each other in ways that a coach might not.

"They could say things to each other that I could never say," Rush said. "There's a comfortableness."

She also noted that the players had a built-in support network thanks to their relationships.

There's also a bit of healthy sibling rivalry involved.

"You have older players who want to maintain their status and there's younger players who want to take them down," Rush said.

That's a rivalry that comes out in practice and scrimmages - not in matches where they're all in for each other.

"It's not a competition for spots," said all-league Player of the Year Kendra Sitz. "But when you play a scrimmage, you want to beat them."

Her sister Natalie nodded at that, but was quick to acknowledge Kendra's strengths.

"She's a senior, also, so she's a good leader," Natalie said.

Sydney Myhre is a freshman, and she often substitutes for her sister Adelyn, so they're seldom on the court at the same time.

Sydney says that her whole family is volleyball-oriented, involved as players and coaches who have helped to build the Outlaws program. She said her family is always playing, watching or talking about volleyball.

She'll be part of a maturing Outlaws squad next year - one that Rush sees as building on this year's performance.

"It's exciting to see how the young players handled themselves at state," she said.

For her part, Kendra Sitz, a senior, thought the 2018 season was great - "definitely my favorite year" - in part because of the bond between teammates.

That bond, that team chemistry, is critical to success, Coach Rush believes.

"Volleyball is one of those momentum/chemistry sports," she said. "If you don't have it, you're going to struggle."

The Outlaws - from Sisters and made up of sisters - "had it" this year, and they plan on building for it for 2019.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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