Lady Outlaws take honors at St. Helens Invitational

The Lady Outlaws came home with the first-place plaque from the St. Helens Invitational Saturday, October 5.

Sisters faced Grant, South Albany (SA), and The Dalles in pool play and finished 5-1, with their lone loss to South Albany. The loss placed the Outlaws as the second seed.

The Outlaws faced Rainier High School in the first round of bracket play and dominated the Mountaineers from start to finish. Final scores were 25-2, and 25-3.

Next up, Sisters faced pool play opponent South Albany, and they wanted to make sure they didn’t have a repeat of the morning. The Outlaws hit the floor offensively strong, passed well, and finished the set with seven straight kills (25-15). Set two was much the same, with a finish of 11 kills (25-20).

The win over SA put the Outlaws in the championship game against St. Helens, who was the No. 1 team going into bracket play. Sisters gained quick momentum behind excellent serves from Ellie Rush, and the squad had another offensively strong game, with 12 kills in the first set. They held St. Helens to just nine points.

Sisters’ offensive attack continued in the second set. The Outlaws were able to move the ball around well, and got all of their hitters involved. Serving was again effective and was key to the 25-9, 25-19 win.

Greta Davis had 37 kills, four blocks and eight aces in the tournament, followed by Addy Myhre who posted 30 kills and nine aces. Sophie Silva tallied 24 kills, eight blocks, and six aces, and Sam Silva added 22 kills, three blocks and 12 aces. Setter Ellie Rush dished out 120 assists, and recorded 11 aces on the day.

Rush noted the play of Myhre and Davis.

“Addy was on fire offensively,” said Rush. “She was aggressive and effective at the net all day. She had a day-high 30 kills and was the ‘go-to’ many times when we needed to put the ball down. Greta played with high energy, and had incredible court awareness. She had a team-high 37 kills on the day. She did a great job of finding holes and reading the defense. She stepped up for us this tournament from the serving line as well, delivering a powerful jump-serve.”

Three days earlier, the Outlaws traveled to Newport to match up against the Cubs. After the long bus ride, they were a little out of sync in the first set, but still managed to post a 25-17 win with their consistent passes and strong?serves.

Sisters woke up in the second set, and strong serves from Ellie Rush and Sam Silva gave the Outlaws a 15-1 lead. The Lady Outlaws dominated play, rotated only four times, and won the set with four servers. Newport was never able to find their rhythm, and Sisters took the set 25-5. Momentum carried into the third set and Sisters’ powerful offensive attack led them to another easy victory,?25-7.

Greta Davis led the offensive attack with 14 kills, four blocks, and one ace, followed by Sophie Silva, who had eight kills, one block, and five aces. Addy Myhre added six kills and two aces.

The Outlaws were to play at home against Cascade on Monday, October 7. They will play at Woodburn on Wednesday.