Going up against a playoff-caliber Class 6A opponent in its first match of the season Thursday evening in the home gymnasium, the Philomath High volleyball team didn’t back down.
Sprague, a hard-hitting contingent out of Salem, posted a 25-13, 25-18, 25-17 victory — a lopsided victory, sure, but the Warriors had their moments. First-year coach Whitney Rasmussen saw positives.
Gallery: PHS volleyball vs. Sprague (Aug. 29, 2024)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s volleyball season opener against Sprague on Thursday.
“I was not disappointed in the outcome at all,” Rasmussen said after a postmatch chat with her players. “I think there’s a lot to take away from the game.”
For starters, Rasmussen saw a PHS defense that showed a strong capability of making plays.
“I would say we played defense really well,” Rasmussen said. “I mean, they get a lot of kills and Sprague is a huge team that hits really hard — they’re known for that and we saw it tonight — but we played defense really well. Even those times we weren’t getting our hands on blocks, we still had passers there and passed the ball and I was proud of them for that.”
Junior Shaylee May was a standout on defense.
“Shaylee probably played the best defensive game of her life tonight,” Rasmussen said. “She was impressive … I’m happy for her for that.”
Despite those moments on defense, Sprague did put together some scoring streaks, which is one of the issues that the team needs to work through, Rasmussen said.
“Our biggest things are stopping the long runs of points … and really focusing on offense — being on attack mode all the time,” Rasmussen said.
Philomath had too many instances, the coach felt, when her team could have been more aggressive with its offense.
“We sent too many free balls over,” she said. “We had opportunities to do something if we could have been in more of an attack mode.”
Sprague and Philomath played fairly even through the first 21 points of the opening set. Sophomore Nora Stanley had a few hits, senior Zoee Howard came up with a nice block and junior Isabelle Muir scored on an ace serve during a stretch that saw the Olympians clinging to an 11-10 lead.
But then one of those runs followed with Sprague scoring 10 straight points to take control. The set ended on a hit by 6-foot sophomore Brooke Friesen.
Philomath led 4-2 early in the second set — the first two points coming on a kill and ace by May. Sprague worked its way into the lead but the Warriors stayed within striking distance well into the set. Down 15-12, Philomath ultimately couldn’t keep pace with Sprague’s heavy hitters. The visitors ended up taking the set by seven.
In the third set, the Olympians vaulted out to an 8-2 lead only to see the Warriors battle back to within 10-7. Sprague had answers, however, and never allowed the home team to find a scoring rhythm to win the set by eight points. The match ended on a hit by Sprague outside hitter Khloe Livingston.
Stanley finished with a team-high nine kills. May had 10 digs and five kills.
Philomath (0-1) will play at home again next week when Pleasant Hill and Crescent Valley visit Sept. 5. The Warriors will face the 3A Billies at 3:30 p.m. and the 5A Raiders at 7:30 p.m.
