The Philomath High School volleyball team defeated Madras 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 on its home floor Saturday in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs, advancing to next weekend’s state tournament in Coos Bay for the first time since 2021.
“That was our goal from the very beginning … we worked really hard today and it feels really good,” PHS junior hitter Nora Stanley said following the sweep. “We’re all super pumped to go to Marshfield and we’re looking forward to playing Cascade.”
Gallery: PHS volleyball vs. Madras (Nov. 1, 2025)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s three-set volleyball win over Madras in the first round of the state playoffs on Saturday.
The fifth-seeded Warriors (16-6) will face league rival and fourth-seeded Cascade at 11 a.m. Friday at Marshfield High School. The Cougars advanced with a sweep of St. Helens. The two schools split during the regular season, with each team winning in four sets on their home floor.
In the win over Madras, junior Megan Ward led the Warriors with 15 kills, adding two blocks and two assists. Stanley contributed 10 kills and two assists, while senior Taylor Hudson provided seven kills, three blocks, two assists and four aces from the middle.
“Megan has some injuries she’s dealing with right now and she had a tough time practicing this week,” Warriors coach Whitney Thomas said. “She came out and played well for us on the right side today. She hit, she blocked, she just did a really good job.”
Senior setter Avery Smith orchestrated the offense with 25 assists while adding two kills and two blocks. Senior Shaylee May finished with five kills, four assists and three aces, and junior Cheyenne Adams served three aces. Senior libero Isabelle Muir anchored the defense from the back row.
“She’s really running everything defensively in our back row right now,” Thomas said about Muir. “It’s working, the pieces are falling together.”
The Warriors entered the match as heavy favorites against 12th-seeded Madras (11-13), which had a sub-.500 record and lost decisively to Philomath earlier this season at a tournament. Thomas said her team focused on avoiding complacency.
“For us, it’s about playing our game of volleyball,” Thomas said. “We have a tendency, which a lot of teams do in volleyball, to play to the ability of the other team … or at least in stretches within sets. We really worked all week on playing to our ability, doing practice our way.”
Stanley echoed that approach, noting the team’s growth in maintaining intensity regardless of the opponent.
“I feel like there is a fine line between being overly confident and having that will to win,” Stanley said. “It can be easy to expect to win and then roll back a little bit. But we’ve gotten way better this season at expecting the unexpected from other teams, expecting anything to come back over the net and giving something aggressive back.”
The victory capped a season marked by strong team chemistry and commitment, according to Stanley.
“This season has been super awesome in terms of team chemistry and togetherness and aggressiveness overall,” she said. “I’m really glad that I get to experience playing with my sisters and being with all of the seniors this year.”
Thomas said she’s seen her team’s confidence grow throughout the season.
“They finally believe in themselves as a team — at last,” Thomas said. “It’s come full circle and they’re starting to believe. I think today just solidified that. They definitely had some nerves going into today. They knew they could do it, for sure, but had some nerves going in.”
The Cascade-Philomath winner will advance to the semifinals to play at 6 p.m. Friday against the winner of No. 1 Marist Catholic and No. 8 Astoria. The loser goes into the consolation bracket with its next match at 9 a.m. Saturday. The 4A championship match is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Philomath 3, Madras 0
Saturday, Nov. 1, at Philomath HS
| Madras (11-13) | 19 | 18 | 21 |
| Philomath (16-6) | 25 | 25 | 25 |
