Siuslaw gets first home win, takes gold in JC

Oct. 4, 2021 — With one game left in the Sky-Em League’s first half, one could argue things are coming together at just the right time for the Siuslaw Viking volleyball team. The Viks picked up their first home win of the season on Sept. 30 when they beat Junction City in a league match, then followed that up by going undefeated on Oct. 2 to win the Junction City Invitational.

 Siuslaw d Junction City 25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 25-18 

On Sept. 30 both sides of Glen Butler Court were nearly full of fans of both teams and Siuslaw took care of Junction City in four sets in a Sky-Em League match.

The fans in attendance saw a great team win for the Vikings as almost every girl that played made large contributions. Especially impressive was the play of sophomore Cate Waggoner.

Called in cold from the bench when classmate Brynlee Manues went down with an ankle injury, Waggoner performed to perfection.

Junior Desi Tupua shone and had 9 kills, 5 tips for points and 3 blocks.

“Desi has such a knack for knowing when to tip, when to go in for the kill and when to play it safe, scoring a lot of points on the board for us,” said Siuslaw Coach Kari Blake.

As is becoming the standard, junior Hailee Outlaw and freshman Mylee Blake played a great game on the outside. Outlaw had a team leading 11 kills and Mylee had 10. Freshman Rhianna Lane led the team in blocks with 6.

Senior Hayden Muller had 23 digs and 16 perfect passes from the back row.

“Hayden picked up a ton of balls that probably should've dropped.  She was all over the floor tonight,” noticed Coach Blake.

Sophomore Meika Shappell was also solid out of the middle back. Senior setter Zoe Alberty did an outstanding job tonight too. 

“Zoe's accuracy was really on and she did a fabulous job of moving the ball around,” said Blake. “She also plays right front and had 4 kills along with many assists.”

After struggling a bit recently, the win against Junction City was a well needed righting of the ship just in time for the second half of Sky-Em League play to begin on Oct. 7.

“I was really proud of them for regrouping, working on some of our weaknesses and coming out with a well-earned win tonight,” the coach said.

Junction City Tournament

Siuslaw d Woodburn 25-14, 25-6

Siuslaw d Tillamook 25-23, 25-14

Siuslaw d Klamath Union 26-24, 25-9

Championship Game – Siuslaw d Junction City 22-25, 25-5, 15-12

“Today was a good day for Viking Volleyball,” said an excited Coach Blake.

The Vikings kept rolling on Saturday, Oct. 2, when the volleyball team swept through four teams, only losing one set all day to take the Gold Bracket at the Junction City Tournament.

“It was a great day and the girls played so focused from start to finish,” said Blake. “We only dropped one set all day and that was in the championship game. This was an exciting week for Siuslaw sports.”

The excitement continued Tuesday, Oct 5, after press deadlines, when the Vikings faced first-place Cottage Grove. They play next on Thursday, Oct. 7, to start the second half of league play with a home game against Marist at 6:45 p.m.