Outlaws volleyball drops first league match

The Lady Outlaws went head to head against league rival Sweet Home on Thursday, September 26. Both teams entered the match undefeated in league play and knew it would be a hard-fought, intense match. The Outlaws just couldn’t find their rhythm and lost in three sets with scores of 25-17, 25-21, and 25-23.

Sweet Home jumped out to an early lead in Thursday’s match. The Outlaws looked tight and just couldn’t get it going offensively. They never settled down, struggled to keep the ball in the court, and were plagued with way too many missed serves. Sisters fell in three straight sets for the first time this season.

Sophie Silva had 10 kills in the match, Greta Davis followed with eight, and Sam Silva added six.

“Playing at Sweet Home during ‘camo night’ is always a loud and an intense experience,” said Coach Rory Rush. “While tonight may not have had the outcome we desired, it was a measurement for us. We know what we need to work on and we will get back in the gym, work hard, and make sure we start the second half of our season with new intensity and focus.”

Three days earlier the Outlaws were able to beat the Stayton Eagles in three, 25-17, 25-21, 25-17, but they were not the aggressive and powerful team they were over the weekend at the Sisters Invitational Tournament. They started the match flat and struggled to find their groove most of the match.

In the third set, the Outlaws found themselves down 9-3. Rush called a timeout and Sisters settled down a little bit and worked hard to score the next six points to close the gap. With the game tied 12-12, the Outlaws finally got into a groove. Addy Myhre led the comeback with eight straight service points and gave Sisters a comfortable lead and enough to win the match in three sets.

Myhre said, “My team does amazing and we usually have a good connection and spark, but this match we had a rough start. Something seemed like it was missing and there wasn’t any connection bringing us together. I missed two serves back to back, as well as hit a ball out. I was so frustrated and it was hard to keep my head up. But, in that third set we got back into a groove, which made

our sets gold and our hitting fire!”

“When it was my turn to serve I was so nervous that I might miss again, and I could feel my heart start to race. But I was motivated and fired up because I could feel our team playing with our usual confidence and connection. The way we build each other up is how we were able to turn things around.”

Greta Davis led the Outlaws with 13 kills, followed by Sophie Silva who posted 11 kills and two aces. Sam Silva added five kills in the match.

Rush said, “Even though we won in three, there was never a time the game felt as though were in control. After a great weekend we stepped on the floor looking sluggish and out of sync. We missed serves, didn’t have consistent passing, and were never really able to get into our offense, and those were all things we did so well at the tournament.”

The Lady Outlaws will play at Newport on Wednesday, October 2, and on Saturday they will play in the St. Helen’s Tournament.