Philomath High School’s bid to defeat Newport for a third time this season in boys volleyball fell short as the Cubs pulled off a 25-21, 25-15, 25-19 victory on its home court Tuesday.
“It’s really great to see teams improving as the season goes on — we have, too,” PHS coach Helen Bennett said Wednesday morning. “But Newport was just the better team overall yesterday. We didn’t rise to the occasion and actually had a lot of unforced errors that gave them too many points for us to make up.”
Philomath beat Newport earlier this season twice in five-set marathons — April 8 at Newport and April 15 at Philomath. The Warriors played this most-recent match missing two starters.
“Aiden Carrier had his best game so far this season in the middle,” Bennett said. “It’s great to see him advancing in his hitting efficiency.”
The loss was Philomath’s first in its league but the Warriors still lead in the standings with a 6-1 record. Newport is second at 5-2.
The Warriors (7-3 overall) will play a home match at 4 p.m. Thursday against Junction City in a nonleague matchup. The team then heads to its first tournament Saturday with a trip to West Salem.
Philomath had originally been scheduled to also face Marshfield Tuesday at Newport but that matchup didn’t happen. As a result, the Warriors will now face a challenging task in a home appearance on May 6 with a tripleheader as Marshfield, North Bend and Newport all visit the PHS gym.