Philomath High senior Ava Theurer admits that she needed to catch her breath toward the end of the second set Tuesday evening during the team’s 25-11, 25-10, 25-12 rout over visiting North Marion.
Why was she winded? Well, it’s not as easy as you might think serving 12 straight times.
Gallery: PHS volleyball vs. North Marion (Sept. 26, 2023)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s volleyball win over North Marion on Tuesday.
“All the time I’ve played volleyball, that’s probably my longest streak of points,” said Theurer, who served for 11 straight in a run that included four aces. “I was kind of out of breath there towards the end. I was really trying to focus.”
North Marion (0-8 overall, 0-3 Oregon West) never could disrupt Theurer’s rhythm from the line in that particular set with the run only ending when her 12th serve fell wide. And she wasn’t the only one finding success putting the ball in play. The Warriors as a team had 23 aces — a team-high seven of those by junior Kynlee Albin.
“We served very well tonight,” PHS coach Autumn Hilberg said. “We also passed really well, which is always big. Serve and pass will win you games.”
Being in command of those two components of the game obviously helped Philomath in the conference matchup against a winless Huskies squad. Philomath has seen stretches of less-than-ideal play against less-experienced opponents.
“Honestly, that is one of our struggles — playing down to a team that’s lower than us,” Theurer said. “But it gives us the opportunity to run some kind of crazy plays, like we run front slides and just stuff we wouldn’t do against a harder opponent. So we try things and find the fun in it.”
Philomath won seven of the first eight points in the opening set to take control from the start of the match. Junior Ashleigh Brown entered the game off the bench to serve after a Theurer hit made the score 2-1. Brown had three straight aces during the run with the other points coming on hits by seniors Clara Stanley and Ahnika Tryon.
Philomath took its first 10-point lead at 16-6 with Tryon at the line — her last three points all coming on ace serves, including one that strategically dropped just inside the back line. After the Huskies cut their deficit to 18-11, Philomath scored the set’s final seven points with Stanley getting a side-out hit and then with Albin serving. Senior Madison Juhl had a kill on the 24th point and the set ended on a North Marion hit into the net.
“I thought they stayed focused and we tried to run new things — this is the game to do that,” Hillberg said. “The new things we executed well.”
In the second set, North Marion had its only lead of the night at 1-0 but the Warriors reeled off seven straight to again take control. The Huskies stayed competitive much of the way and got to within 12-9 at one point. Philomath scored its 13th point on a Theurer hit and then she followed with her 11-point serving run.
Philomath overwhelmed the Huskies in the third set with an 8-1 start and 10-point lead for the first time at 14-4 on an ace serve by junior Kaylie Kohler. The Warriors led by as many as 13 at 18-5 before the Huskies put together some points. After the visitors had pulled to within 22-13, Philomath closed it out with the final point appropriately coming on an Albin ace — a powerful serve off the fingertips of North Marion’s back-row defender.
The Warriors (5-3, 2-1) will try to make it three straight wins Thursday with a 6 p.m. home match against Sweet Home.
