In an early-season conference volleyball showdown Tuesday between Philomath and Cascade for sole possession of first place, the Warriors appeared to be getting stronger as the match wore on.
The Cougars nabbed the first set but Philomath quickly regrouped and took the second and third sets in close fashion before controlling the fourth. The Warriors (3-7 overall, 3-0 Oregon West) got the victory 19-25, 25-21, 25-23 and 25-16.
Ashleigh Brown, the team’s imposing, skilled setter who returned to the lineup a few games ago after an injury, said the victory gives the Warriors the type of motivation needed to take the next step.
“We’ve kind of come into league a little bit down thinking that we couldn’t beat teams but the past three games have all been close and we’ve come out on top,” Brown said. “That really just motivates us to play harder every game.”
Philomath did struggle through a very challenging nonleague schedule with an 0-7 record. But the arrival of Oregon West Conference play represented a new season and the Warriors have taken advantage of the opportunity with victories over Sweet Home, Stayton and now the Cougars to sit atop the league standings all alone at 3-0.
“We knew that preseason was going to test us to the very edge and either we were going to get better from it or we were going to have a massive collapse,” PHS coach Whitney Rasmussen said. “This team did a great job of using it to just get better instead of allowing it to get to them so that they couldn’t be successful. And that’s huge.”
Brown believes this team has the formula to find more success down the road.
“We’ve become closer as a team and we know how to lift each other up and keep our energy going the entire game,” Brown said. “We’ve also learned to listen to our coaches and execute what they’re telling us.”
Going into the match, Rasmussen knew Cascade’s serving skills would pose a challenge.
“Cascade’s a really good-serving team so when that happens, you’re out of rotation a lot in serve receive so you don’t get very good sets to the outsides and the outsides become your outlets,” Rasmussen said. “So what happens is that oftentimes, our setter isn’t setting the ball — we’re just getting the ball in the air and hoping somebody hits it over.”
Rasmussen said she took her top two hitters aside to provide insight on how to approach the opponent.
“I talked with Shaylee (May) and I talked to Nora (Stanley) about this is going to be one of those games that we need you to show up — you’ve got to be consistent and you’ve got to get balls to the deep corners on them because they don’t adjust very well to that,” Rasmussen said.
Beyond May and Matthews, the Warriors scored points through their secondary hitters.
“If they were scouting us and watching film (they would conclude) go to those people that get all the kills all the time,” Rasmussen said. “And then as soon as they start cheating over and blocking those ones, then you start going to Kynlee (Albin), going to Zoee (Howard), going to Taylor (Hudson). Everybody contributed tonight, that’s for sure.”
Rasmussen said the team prepared to attack Cascade’s vulnerable serve-receive unit.
“We had a game plan going in and they absolutely executed it,” Rasmussen said. “I mean, they did everything and more that we asked of them and told them, ‘this is what you can do to win’ and they executed it 110%.”
Cascade’s most visible serve-receive issues surfaced in the fourth set. The Warriors had just taken a 10-4 lead on a Stanley kill in front of a home crowd that got very loud at times. With May at the service line, the Warriors scored three straight points on serves that Cascade could only hit backwards.
“Volleyball is such a game of momentum and if you can keep the momentum, then you can win,” Rasmussen said. “A huge part of it was to try to get in their heads a little bit — hit something hard and then get a kill with a tip and be loud and obnoxious and keep the momentum … that provided us with everything that we wanted to do.”
Cascade (6-6, 2-1) opened the match by taking the first set. It had been tied 11-11 early on before the Cougars slowly pulled away behind a combination of hard and soft hitting. The Warriors had a few miscues along the way, including on the final two points with a shot that landed wide followed by a serve-receive error.
In the second set, the two teams stayed close throughout with neither team leading by more than two points until the visitors were able to go up 14-11. Cascade maintained that edge to 18-15 before the Warriors made a move to avoid a 2-0 hole to start the match. The Cougars helped the cause with a couple of long serves, serve-receive issues and a net violation.
Tied at 19, Philomath took the lead on a Cascade hit that landed wide and then followed up with two more points on a Cascade hit into the net and a serve return that landed out.
Later on while clinging to a 23-21 lead, the Warriors scored two straight to even the match at 1-1. The final set point came on a strategic hit by Brown.
Philomath has tried to work through hiccups in its execution that plagued the team earlier this fall.
“We’ve worked on consistency a lot in practices and just when we get down hitting spots,” Brown said. “I think we’ve learned how to adjust mid-game when something isn’t working. That in itself is improving our stats.”
In the third set, Philomath scored the first three points but it would remain close throughout. In the late going, the Warriors trailed 22-19 before finishing strong to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The hard-hitting Stanley eased up to score the team’s 20th point with a soft touch and the 21st point on a flat-footed kill. Cascade regrouped and got a kill for a 23-21 lead but that would be its last point of the set.
Stanley came up with a kill that landed just inside the back line and then Cascade hit wide to tie it up, 23-23. Another Stanley hit gave PHS the lead for the first time since it had been 17-16. The set ended with Isabelle Muir serving and Cascade failing on the serve-receive attempt.
The fourth set followed with Philomath taking control almost from the start. Leading 9-4 after a sideout, the Warriors then scored seven straight points with May serving. Stanley had a kill, followed by those serve-receive issues mentioned earlier. PHS went up 14-4 on a Howard hit that Cascade’s back row couldn’t handle. Stanley had another kill followed by a Cascade hit that landed long to make it 16-4.
The Cougars tried to get back to within striking distance but Philomath kept up a consistent counteroffensive. Stanley, Brown, Hudson and Albin all had hits for points. Howard had a hit for the 24th point and then after a serve into the net, the Warriors won it on a Stanley hit.
May and Stanley shared team-high honors for hitting with 13 kills apiece. Hudson was impressive at the net with four blocks. Brown had 26 assists and three ace serves.
Philomath will get right back on the court again Wednesday with a 6 p.m. match at North Marion. The Huskies (1-6, 0-3) lost in three sets Tuesday at Sweet Home.
