Lady Outlaws compete at Clearwater Classic

The Lady Outlaws competed at the Bend Clearwater Classic held on Saturday, October 19. Twenty-two teams were in attendance, the majority 5A and 6A schools.

Sisters matched up against North Medford (NM) in an 8 a.m. match in their first game of pool play. The Outlaws came out a bit sluggish and NM ran some quick sets to take the lead. The Outlaws did battle back, but it was just a little too late. The second set was close, but the Outlaws held the lead the entire way and finished with split matches with NM.

The Outlaws matched up against the Grant Generals (6-0) in the second game of pool play. Holly Davis started the set with a 3-0 serving run. Two kills from both Ali Gibney and Paityn Cotner, and an ace from Alli Fogarty helped bring the Outlaws to a 11-7 lead. Cotner served seven in a row, which included three aces, and two big kills from Scholl and a kill from Haven Heuberger took them to a 18-7 advantage. Grant managed to come back with a few more points, but Sisters held on for a 10-point win.

Grant took control in the second set and soon the Outlaws found themselves down 8-21. The tides turned and Sisters clawed their way back. Jordyn Monaghan had an amazing nine-point serving run that included three aces, and Sisters got four kills from Scholl that went straight down to the floor. Sadly, Sisters lost the set by four.

Sisters finished pool play with a split against the Ridgeview Ravens. After a 1-1 tie in the first set, the Outlaws fell behind and were unable to ever the lead. Scholl led the team with six big kills in the set, and Audrey Sybesma added two nice kills from the right side.

The Outlaws turned it around and took the second set. Davis started off with a 9-0 serving run, but the Ravens came right back with a run of their own to narrow the gap to 9-7. Emma Long followed with a five-point serving run that included four aces and the Outlaws extended their lead. Down the stretch the Outlaws got kills from Scholl, Sybesma, Heuberger, Cotner, and  Holly Davis to help close out the win.

The Outlaws finished pool play 3-3.

In bracket play the Outlaws once again faced the Grant Generals. In the first set the Outlaws held on to a slim lead early in the match. Back-to-back kills from Sybesma took the Outlaws to an 8-4 lead. A short time later, Heuberger downed back-to-back kills to put the Outlaws on top 14-11. Grant knotted it up three times at 14, 15, and 17, and from there took the lead and held on for a four-point win.

In the second set, Sisters took an early lead and went up 10-6. The Generals knotted it at 11, 12, 14, and 15 to keep the set close. A kill from Scholl, and back-to-back aces from Alli Fogarty took Sisters to an 18-15 lead. Grant came back with seven straight points and Sisters went down 18-22.  The Generals held onto the lead and won the match by two, 23-25. Scholl had five kills in the set, and Heuberger, Sybesma, and Cotner added two each.

Coach Josh Kreunen commented on Scholl’s performance: “Kat is an exceptional hitter, the most versatile hitter in the area with the ability to hit every kind of set. One of our middle starters was out Saturday so we moved Kat there for the day.”

Kreunen told The Nugget that Scholl will be back at her normal outside position next week, where she gets more attempts per set.

Sisters also had good serving runs from several of their players and Kreunen commented on that.

“We are a good serving team and have multiple players who have the ability to go on long runs, and did a few times today,” said Kreunen. “Alli (Fogarty) is our best server with the most aces and highest server rating over the season, and she closed out a couple of sets today.”