CORVALLIS — In the season opener Thursday night on the road in a hot gymnasium, Philomath High’s volleyball team had last year’s Class 5A state runner-up on the ropes. The 4A Warriors had won the first two sets and reached match point in the third with a 24-20 lead.
But Crescent Valley survived to win the set, 28-26, and then took the fourth and fifth sets to pull out a marathon victory.
“Honestly, we got tired and got outplayed in the last couple of sets,” second-year PHS coach Whitney Thomas said. “That’s hard but it’s OK. It’s preseason and that’s why we do a preseason — to learn to play at this level of competition and be prepared for league play later on.”
The Raiders won the match, 20-25, 23-25, 28-26, 25-20 and 15-9.
“There’s a lot that we can build off of playing with only seven people in the lineup right now,” Thomas said. “I think the positives really were the first and second set. Obviously, we won those two but they played really well all around.”
Philomath never trailed in the first set and led by as many as nine after a five-point run with junior Nora Stanley serving. During that stretch, Stanley, senior Taylor Hudson and senior Shaylee May all had kills. Plus, Stanley picked up an ace on a ball that Crescent Valley players watched hit inside the back line.
“Everybody succeeded in their role individually on the team,” Thomas said. “They supported one another and really pushed through some long rallies.”
The Raiders (1-0) got back to within 20-18 in that opening set but Philomath finished the home team off by winning five of the last seven points. Junior Megan Ward scored the final point with a kill.
The second set was much more of a back-and-forth affair with the lead changing hands six times. Trailing 23-22, the Warriors caught a few breaks late when poor passing cost the Raiders a point, followed by serve-receive issues that went down as Philomath aces by senior Avery Smith.
Thomas said she saw a team that was working well together with players supporting each other on the court.
“They don’t allow each other to make mistakes and dwell on any error that was made,” she said. “It’s just ‘move on’ to the next point.”
The outcome of the third set had to be a tough pill to swallow for the Warriors. Philomath shot out to a 6-1 lead and had the upper hand until the Raiders rallied for a 20-19 lead. After falling behind, the Warriors then scored five straight points to reach match point. Unforced errors by the Raiders contributed to the run but Stanley also had a big hit on the 24th point.
However, as mentioned, Crescent Valley persevered and ended up taking the set.
The two teams had another tight one in the fourth set and it was tied 18-18 at one point. Down the stretch, junior Niana King, junior Georgia Vawter and senior Ashlin Lockman each had kills to score timely points. In fact, Lockman had kills on her team’s final three points.
Crescent Valley took control right away in the fifth set by winning seven of the first eight points. Philomath tried to battle back but the Raiders had too big of a lead. The final point was a Lockman ace.
Philomath’s attack featured a lot of hitting from players like Stanley (12 kills) and May (nine). Setting up most of those attempts was Smith, who finished with 29 assists.
“Avery set her heart out and played well all around,” Thomas said. “She had multiple aces and worked really hard.”
Senior Isabelle Muir had an exceptional match on defense and at the service line.
“She was huge … she did a great job for us,” Thomas said. “She came in clutch in those final couple of sets and served really hard.”
Ward’s hitting on the right side produced points along with a team-high three blocks. Hudson had an impact with her play as well and freshman Alyssa Stanley also caused problems for the Raiders at the net.
In addition to those seven that were regulars on the floor, PHS junior Cheyenne Adams also saw some time in the match, mostly by rotating in as a serve specialist. She finished with a team-best three aces.
“Crescent Valley was second place in the state last year at the 5A level,” Thomas said. “This is a great preseason matchup for us and we hung in there. If we played them again, I think we’d win. Truthfully, I think we knew how to play them and we just needed to pull together a little bit more in those final two sets.”
Philomath (0-1) is scheduled to return to action at 6 p.m. Tuesday with a home match against Class 3A Warrenton (2-1).
Crescent Valley 3, Philomath 2
Thursday at Crescent Valley HS, Corvallis
| Philomath (0-1) | 25 | 25 | 26 | 20 | 9 |
| Crescent Valley (1-0) | 20 | 23 | 28 | 25 | 15 |
