This story was updated at 8:15 a.m. Sept. 20 with an expanded JV team report.
In a final nonconference match before getting into Oregon West play next week, the Philomath High School volleyball team lost a tough five-set marathon on its home floor against Junction City Thursday night.
Junction City (5-4) got out of town with a 15-25, 25-19, 25-22, 21-25, 15-13 victory.
Gallery: PHS volleyball vs. Junction City (Sept. 19, 2024)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s five-set match at home vs. Junction City on Thursday.
For the Warriors (0-7), it was the first time the volleyball program had lost a five-set match since the 2021 state semifinals when this year’s seniors were freshmen. Philomath will get into league play Tuesday with a trip to Sweet Home, a team that takes a 1-4 record into a weekend tournament at Marist Catholic.
In a thriller of a match in a warm PHS gymnasium, the Warriors fought their way out of a tough corner by taking the fourth set. Junction City held a 4-3 lead early on in the pivotal set but the Warriors tied it up on a Nora Stanley hit, took the lead on a Kynlee Albin ace serve and never trailed the rest of the way.
Still, the fourth set was a back-and-forth battle with Philomath never leading by more than four points. Junction City cut the Warrior lead to 20-19 in the late going but Philomath responded with three straight points to take control. Stanley came up big during that stretch with a kill on the 22nd point and a block on the 23rd.
Stanley also had point-scoring hits on the 24th and 25th points, the last one coming after a long rally, to force a fifth set.
Philomath scored the first two points of the fifth but the Tigers were able to score three straight and later led by as many as five points — a considerable margin for a set that’s played to 15. The Warriors had another scoring streak in them, however, and pulled to within one with a 5-1 run. Later after being down 12-9, Philomath had yet another comeback in them. Taylor Hudson’s point-scoring hit cut the Tigers’ lead to 13-12 and then Ashleigh Brown’s perfect back set for Albin on the right side tied it up.
But Junction City had the final say with senior Elise Hartle rising to the occasion. Hartle placed the ball up and over Philomath’s defense and just inside the side line to give the visitors a 14-13 lead. Then on match point, Hartle’s block on a Hudson hit proved to be the final point.
Philomath looked good early in the match by winning the opening set by 10 points — Albin clinching it with an ace serve. But the Tigers had answers in the second and third sets to gain the upper hand. Junction City was in control throughout the second but in the third, the two teams battled to the end with the set tied 20-20 at one point. Junction City persevered the threat with the help of a few late PHS miscues and won the set by three points.
The match was the latest in a series that has had interesting moments through the years. Philomath had one of its most memorable victories ever when the 10th-seeded Warriors beat fourth-seeded Junction City in the third-place match at the 2019 state tournament. For the Tigers, they beat Philomath for the first time since winning in five sets back in 2016.
