MORO – In the past, any little moment of adversity would mean the downfall to the Sherman volleyball team.
Thursday, the Huskies lost the opening 25-16, but then rallied to grab wins in the next three games to defeat Echo in Big Sky Conference action in Moro.
“We have been working hard in practice with building our confidence and doing a lot of drills in high-pressure situations, so when it comes to close games, we perform at our peak when we don’t hang our heads, as opposed to the past when we would have.”
After the first loss, Sherman and Echo battled to an 9-all draw, until the Huskies got their serving and hitting going for a 10-3 run and a 19-12 lead.
Echo got to within 21-19 late in the set, but then Jaelyn Justesen and CJ Johnson dropped kills, Emma Stutzman added an ace serve and Echo had a violation called on the final point making a 25-20 Sherman victory to even the match at 1-apiece.
Sherman jumped ahead early and held strong throughout the third set, ending on 5-4 spurt for a 25-19 victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Echo appeared to be sending this match to a fifth game, as it built a 14-9 lead, which caused a timeout call by first-year coach Karissa Gorham.
Down 22-20, Desiree Winslow slammed down a kill to get the Huskies to a 22-21 deficit.
A hitting error drew Sherman to a 23-23 tie, and then Savannah Moe laced home an ace and Echo had a kill attempt sail long to secure Sherman’s 25-23 win and the match.
The Huskies are now tied with Dufur atop the Big Sky standings with a 3-0 record in league play.
It is the perfect start for a senior-laden Sherman team that has been together since they were underclassmen.
“We came out strong. Before the season, we made our goals to make it to district and make it to state, because we know that we are a really tough team. I think we all realize that we can make it really far.”
The Huskies (5-4 overall) hosts South Wasco County at 5 p.m. Tuesday and travels to Fossil for a league match versus Condon-Wheeler at 5 p.m. Friday.
“I wanted to come into this season with more intensity and more of a passion for the sport. They have that passion for winning and it is an exciting thing to see from this team,” Gorham said. “We have had a good start to league with three wins, but we still have to keep our edge and expect more out of ourselves. If we have a bad night, any team in this league can beat us.”
Serving is key to any volleyball match.
The South Wasco County Redsides converted on 95.9 percent of their serves, racked up 22 aces and Laurynn Davis whistled home nine aces in the team’s three-game sweep over Condon-Wheeler Thursday in Big Sky Conference action in Maupin.
“The girls had a great game,” SWC head coach Crystal Pechanec said. “Their service improved tremendously since the last game.”
SWC dominated the first game by a 25-8 margin and then took a 2-0 lead following a 25-19 outcome.
The Redsides slammed the door shut on Condon-Wheeler in the third set, 25-11 to move their record to 2-1 in league play.
SWC (6-6 overall) has one of its biggest tests at 5 p.m. Tuesday in a road match at Dufur.
Pechanec doesn’t want her team to deviate from their recent upsurge, so the goal is to progress through the regular season.
“I am looking for our team to stay consistent and keep a winning momentum going deeper into league play and just keep having fun with this season,” the coach said.
After Tuesday’s match, the Redsides host their daylong tournament with matches slated to run from 9 a.m. through 1 p.m.
At 3 p.m. is a game to be determined, based on pool play results.
Mikayla Kelly had 14 kills and 12 digs, Sydnee Byers added 11 kills and 12 digs, and setter Trinity Blake was good for three aces, three kills, eight digs and 26 assists in the Dufur Rangers’ 3-1 home victory over Ione Thursday.
Dufur took advantage in the first game with a lopsided 25-8 final.
Ione stayed strong and evened the match at 1-apiece after a 26-24 win.
The Lady Rangers went on to find its groove in the third and fourth games, taking wins by scores of 25-10 and 25-15.
Kalie Ellis had nine kills and three blocks, Kayla Bailey chipped in six kills, four aces, eight digs and eight assists, Reghan Smith doled out six digs, and Emily Crawford had two aces and three digs to lead the Rangers.
In all, Dufur tallied 21 aces and a 92.9 percent rate with seven errors and had seven players contribute 45 kills. The team had a passing average of 1.61, totaled 35 assists and 65 digs, five by Zoe Hester.
Dufur (8-4 overall, 3-0 league) looks to keep its streak going in a home match at 5 p.m. Tuesday against Echo.
On Thursday, the Rangers host South Wasco County with a start time set for 5 p.m.
The Dalles volleyball team opened the door for Intermountain Conference action with Crook County and lost in three games Thursday in Prineville.
Crook County breezed through the opener by a 25-8 score to strike first.
The Dalles had closer scores over the last two games, but lost 25-16 and 25-23 for its second sweep loss in five matches.
TD (1-4 overall, 0-1 league) eyes a pair of rebound matches this week with a match at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Pendleton.
At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, TD hosts Ridgeview, before wrapping up at the franklin Tournament at 8 a.m. Saturday.
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