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The Sisters Outlaws volleyball team won the 3A state championships in Eugene
Saturday, November 9, defeating Estacada in the finals 12-15, 15-5, 15-8 after
knocking off defending champion La Salle in a Friday night semi-final match.
The Outlaws started their championship run Thursday with a 15-4, 15-8 victory
over Junction City at Lane Community College.
The Outlaws advanced to face Philomath in Friday's afternoon match. Coach Rod
Jones admitted to feeling nervous going into that second game after seeing
Philomath crush a strong Henley team.
But the Outlaws rose to the occasion, dismantling Philomath 15-2, 15-3.
"It was just vintage volleyball," Jones said. "It was as good as anything
I've seen in my career. They were in a zone and they just went off."
Shelley Greene worked off Heather Dempsey's rock-solid setting game to record
15 kills. Suzanne Fouts contributed eight kills and Greene, Fouts and Dempsey
served up 12 aces, maintaining the strong serving game they carried through the
whole tournament.
After the Philomath match, Jones said, "they knew they could play with
anybody."
That confidence may have been shaken a bit Friday evening as Sisters dropped to
1-6 against defending champion La Salle, but the Outlaws rallied behind the
outstanding play of Suzanne Fouts to pull out a 15-12, 15-9 win.
Fouts recorded a team tournament high of 16 kills in the match. Kelly Davis and
Shelley Greene contributed strong play in a match that the Outlaws controlled
throughout, giving up points mostly on unforced errors.
Making the finals may have disoriented the Outlaws squad; they came out flat in
the final match Saturday night against Estacada and got into trouble early.
The Outlaws went down 7-0, rallied to a 10-10 tie and tied again at 12-12
before three straight unforced errors cost them the game 12-15. But the rallies
made for a subtle turn in momentum and it carried over into the next two
games.
"The momentum had changed," Jones said. "They knew they belonged there."
The Outlaws bounced back for a convincing 15-5 second game win. The fell behind
early in the third, but never relaxed their grip on the game, taking control
and powering to a 15-8 victory to win the tournament.
Sisters volleyball fans turned out in large and vocal numbers, boosting the
team to a high level of play.
"The Sisters community was awesome this weekend," Jones said.
The championship fulfilled the high expectations for the Sisters program that
arrived with Jones, one of the nation's top volleyball coaches. Jones is
accustomed to victory, and the Outlaws started their season with their eyes on
the prize.
"You don't expect anything else," Jones said. "You don't expect anything less.
You go in expecting to be in the show."
