The Philomath High School volleyball team’s unbeaten streak in the Oregon West Conference ended Tuesday night with a four-set road loss at Stayton.
The Eagles (10-9 overall, 4-3 Oregon West) are sitting in third place behind Cascade and Philomath in the league standings, each of those schools with 6-1 records. Cascade (10-6 overall) and Philomath (7-11) will square off at 6 p.m. Thursday on the Cougars’ home floor with sole possession of first place on the line.
“We played a tough Stayton team who showed up to play aggressive,” Warriors coach Whitney Rasmussen said following the 25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 25-13 loss. “We didn’t work well as a cohesive team tonight but plenty of opportunities left in the season to get back to where we want to be.”
Junior Shaylee May had a team-high 17 kills in the match. Sophomore Nora Stanley finished with 13 kills. Senior setter Ashleigh Brown had 26 assists.
“A loss is never easy but we’re still learning and growing and looking forward to the next match,” Rasmussen said.
Cascade lost to Philomath in four sets on Oct. 1 but have won four straight matches since, including Tuesday’s 25-8, 25-8, 25-5 rout over a struggling North Marion squad.
