In a match that could decide the Oregon West Conference title, the Philomath High School volleyball team went on the road Thursday and defeated Cascade, 26-28, 25-20, 25-22 and 25-20.
The Warriors (8-11 overall, 7-1 Oregon West) needed to regroup after falling in four sets Tuesday at Stayton. Both teams came into the match with one league loss with the winner gaining an advantage heading into the final week of the regular season.
“Coming off of a tough loss Tuesday to Stayton, I could not be more proud of all of them for bouncing back and not allowing the loss to consume them,” PHS coach Whitney Rasmussen said.
The Warriors appeared to be on the mark with its hitting. Junior Shaylee May had a team-high 18 kills, sophomore Nora Stanley finished with 14, junior Taylor Hudson had seven and senior Ashleigh Brown added five.
“This was the absolute best I’ve seen every single person play together as a complete team for the sole goal of winning,” Rasmussen said. “Everyone stuck to the game plan and outlasted Cascade in long rallies.”
The two schools set the tone for the evening with a competitive first set. The Warriors led 20-17 at one point and later had a 23-22 advantage but the Cougars were able to pull it out 28-26.
In the second set, Philomath built a 14-6 lead before the home team staged a comeback to pull to within 17-15. But the Warriors regrouped, went up 21-16 and finished it out 25-20. The third set had a similar outcome with PHS leading 15-8 at one point behind strong hitting. Cascade staged yet another comeback, however, and forced a 22-22 tie before the Warriors closed it out with the next three points.
In the fourth, Philomath came out of a timeout with a 21-20 lead and took the next four points to clinch the match.
“Our defense played outstanding,” Rasmussen said. “They absolutely dominated and outhustled everyone tonight. The team that showed up tonight was fearless and had no thoughts of losing.”
In other stats out of the match, the team’s primary setter, Brown, had 34 assists. At the service line, senior Hannah Bennett had four aces and May had two.
The loss dropped Cascade to 10-7 overall, 6-2 in the conference.
Philomath will finish the regular season next week with a home match Tuesday against North Marion before playing Thursday at Newport. The Warriors beat both of those schools in straight sets earlier this month.
