The Philomath High School volleyball team evened its record at 1-1 in the Oregon West Conference Thursday night with a three-set sweep at Newport.
Coach Autumn Hilberg said the team started slow in the first two sets but pushed through those challenges to come out on top, 25-22, 25-22, 25-17.
“We struggled in the serve and pass game but put the ball in play when needed,” Hilberg said. “Newport played a really good match.”
In the third set, Philomath built a lead early against the Cubs (4-5 overall, 1-1 Oregon West).
“Everything seemed to flow our way,” Hilberg said. “I’m proud of how they pulled through in each set. They had some ups and downs but they were always sparked by winning a really long rally.”
Philomath had a strong presence at the net with seven blocks — two by Kynlee Albin.
“Our blockers did a good job tonight being disciplined in our game plan,” Hilberg said. “Ava (Theurer), Kynlee and Zoee (Howard) all came up with strong blocks.”
Elsewhere on the stat sheet, Clara Stanley had team-high performances for kills (24) and digs (27), Ashleigh Brown had 19 assists and Ahnika Tryon, Brown and Albin each had three ace serves.
Philomath (4-3 overall) is scheduled to host two matches next week with North Marion Tuesday and Sweet Home Thursday. The varsity contests are both scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in the PHS gym.
