The Philomath High School volleyball team dropped a match in three sets Thursday evening on the road against Marist Catholic, the preseason No. 1 team in the OSAAtoday coaches poll.
The Spartans took the win 25-16, 25-8 and 25-22.
“We continue to grow and learn to work as a team every practice and game,” PHS coach Whitney Rasmussen said. “We are finding success in small doses and working on pushing through to win long rallies and force opponent errors.”
Sophomore Nora Stanley had a team-high nine kills, junior Avery Smith had 12 assists and junior Isabelle Muir served two aces to lead the Warriors on the stat sheet.
Marist Catholic remained unbeaten with a 6-0 start to its season.
It’s been a rough start to the season for the Warriors (0-6) against challenging competition with the only moments of victory so far coming in pool play of a weekend tournament — those are not included on the team’s official record.
Said Rasmussen, “We have no expectations to become perfect overnight but we strive to improve every day.”
Philomath will now take a week away from matches with the next competition scheduled for Sept. 19 at home against Junction City.
