Lady Outlaws split two on hardwood

The Lady Outlaws started their week with a tough four-set road loss to top ranked Pleasant Hill (PH) on Monday, September 16, with scores of 16-25, 25-23, 15-25, and 12-25. They bounced back two days later, and posted a four-set win on the road at Harrisburg (25-14, 23-25, 25-17, 25-15).

PH started the match on fire, and took the first set by nine points. 

In the second set, Coach Josh Kreunen made a line up adjustment, and kept the set close with great defense from Holly Davis and Paityn Cotner who finished with 13 digs each, followed by  Alli Fogarty with 12  and Jordyn Monaghan with 11. The Outlaws also had a nice run of six points off of three kills from Kathryn Scholl, two kills from Ali Gibney, and an ace from Davis. Sisters edged out the Billies by two points and took the second set.

PH finished off the match with strong serves and a few big runs to take the third and fourth sets and post the win. 

Scholl finished with 14 kills. Davis recorded 37 assists and two aces. Gibney had eight kills, two aces, and two blocks, and Audrey Sybesma followed with seven kills and two blocks. Haven Heuberger also had seven kills in the match. 

Kreunen told The Nugget he’s impressed with the progress the Outlaws are making, and that they get better with each match played.

“Their record doesn’t indicate how well they are playing, but they are getting more and more confident in themselves and their teammates,” said Kreunen. “Each player is embracing their role and excelling.

“For example, our 5-foot-6-inch middle blocker Ali (Gibney), who is new to the position yet leading the team in blocks, and Alli (Fogarty), who leads the team in passing and is second in digs,” added Kreunen. “We definitely still have room to grow and are looking to improve in all areas, specifically in serve receive, blocking, and staying focused to where we don’t give up big runs of points. If they continue to improve like this throughout the regular season, I think we can make a deep run in the playoffs.”

Two days later the Outlaws posted a win over the Harrisburg Eagles. The offense played well in the first set, and multiple players had several kills. The team had also had some nice rallies and pulled away for the win.

In the second set Sisters was accurate at the service line and played good defense, but Harrisburg had two big serving runs that, according to Kreunen, made the difference in the set and led to the loss. 

Sisters took the third set 25-17, and earned the win with a 25-15 fourth set victory.

Fogarty was spot-on at the service line and finished with 13 aces and a big run of seven points in the final set. She also recorded eight digs.

Heuberger tallied 13 kills, Sybesma had 12, and Paityn Cotner added seven.

Brooklyn Cooper, who played libero, helped out on defense and had seven digs on the night. Davis dished out 38 assists and also served up two aces.

The Outlaws played without Scholl and Monaghan, who were out due to injury and illness, respectively.

Sisters was to play at home against Creswell on Tuesday, September 24. They will be on the road at La Pine on Thursday.