LADY FISHERMEN PUT ALL HANDS ON DECK
There appears to be two different races in the Cowapa League this year in volleyball. The race between Astoria and Tillamook for first and second and the free-for-all among the rest of the league for the third state playoff spot.
Astoria defeated Yamhill-Carlton 25-16, 25-18, 25-19 at the Brick House Tuesday night to run their Cowapa League record to 3-1, 4-2 overall.
Yamhill-Carlton has a young, up-and-coming squad with great future potential, but the reality is right now they are no match for Astoria.
The Lady Fishermen, while still far from where they wish to be by the end of the season, were still able to dispatch the Tigers in three games, while rotating their entire bench onto the floor for significant action.
"For the most part we did a good job," said Astoria head coach Angee Hunt. "We kind of got down, but we got our momentum back under us and we were able to finish strong in the third game."
Yamhill-Carlton, which started three sophomores and a freshman, had the early advantage as two Astoria hitting errors and a tip kill by 6-2 soph Elle Anderson boosted the visitors to a 3-0 lead. Astoria would fight back to tie the score at fours before the teams got on the side-out see-saw. An ace serve by frosh defensive specialist Taelor Henderson gave the Tigers their last lead of the game at 10-8.
After another side out, Astoria's senior setter Sara Cullen served the Fish to a 13-10 advantage, helped by kills from Emily Bunnell and Sophie DeWitt. Bunnell would pilot another rally later in the game, serving four points with the second of her four aces to put Astoria up 23-14.
"Emily served really tough tonight," said Astoria head coach Angee Hunt. "She's got that nice topspin serve so when she's feeling it, the momentum, she can really rack up some points. She did a nice job all the way around of just playing a more prominent presence on the floor."
Bunnell would be featured up front on this night, as returning All-Cowapa League outside hitter Kristen Saulsbury took a seat on the bench after contributing one kill to the cause in the first game. Bunnell would display her versatility with six kills, while handling a number of tough serves from the Tigers.
"Y-C has some very strong servers," said Hunt. "Our serve receive really struggled tonight."
Cullen and Bunnell displayed a more aggressive service approach against Y-C, with Cullen mixing deep liners with an effective spin-free drop serve, placing all 12 of her efforts in the court, while leading Astoria in assists with 16.
Cullen served Astoria to a 5-0 lead in game two. Down 13-7, Yamhill rallied against Astoria's bench, closing to 14-14 on an ace serve by Sammie Weidner, the only senior to see court time for the Tigers, who were without two players slated to start the season and another, sophomore 5-10 middle blocker Sami Lee, who is just getting back into the flow after an ankle injury.
A net violation would give Astoria serve with a 19-17 lead and Bunnell quickly extended it to 23-17 with some strong serves and a back row kill off an assist by sophomore Kayce Lilley. Astoria scored the final two points of the game on a service error and a hitting error by Y-C.
After Y-C got the early jump again in game three, going up 2-0 and 4-2, Astoria got back-to-back long scoring runs with Hilary O'Bryan (19-20 serving for the game) and Emily Bunnell on serve. Astoria played some of its most inspired volleyball of the match as the Lady Fishermen ran off six straight points with Bunnell behind the line and Kayce Lilley setting. Ashley Martens and Meredith Barnes contributed kills and O'Bryan scored back row kill on a nice rally kept alive by some strong play in the back row by junior libero Kelsey Takko.
But, just when it seemed the Lady Fishermen would close out on an up note, the Tigers wrested momentum away with an 8-point run of their own with junior outside hitter Natalee Uhlich serving. Uhlich scored two aces, while Lee had two kills and a block during the run, which tied the game at 18-18. Astoria put the finishing touches on the game and the match by scoring seven of the next eight points with aces by Dani Bergeson and Sara Cullen couples with two service errors and three hitting errors by the Tigers.
"You're trying to get kids in off the bench and you've got momentum," said Hunt. "It's kind of a catch-22. Getting them in while there's still enough points in the game for them to get some worthwhile experience on the floor, yet trying to hopefully maintain the momentum.
"We were able to pull out of it. Those are situations that we have to be able to play through and be able to make subs in different situations. Maybe there's an injury? There's all sorts of unexpected things that can happen and we need to be able to play through that."
Barnes led Astoria in kills with eight as DeWitt and Saulsbury took a backseat to other players. Astoria gave up six service aces and did not get a single block for point in the match, but still emerged with the 3-game win. The Lady Fishermen close out the first of three tours through the Cowapa League with a road game at Banks Thursday night, followed by a trip to Seaside next Tuesday.
Yamhill-Carlton dropped to 2-2 with the loss, with wins over Banks and Seaside and losses to Scappoose and Astoria.
Astoria defeated Yamhill-Carlton 25-16, 25-18, 25-19 at the Brick House Tuesday night to run their Cowapa League record to 3-1, 4-2 overall.
Yamhill-Carlton has a young, up-and-coming squad with great future potential, but the reality is right now they are no match for Astoria.
The Lady Fishermen, while still far from where they wish to be by the end of the season, were still able to dispatch the Tigers in three games, while rotating their entire bench onto the floor for significant action.
"For the most part we did a good job," said Astoria head coach Angee Hunt. "We kind of got down, but we got our momentum back under us and we were able to finish strong in the third game."
Yamhill-Carlton, which started three sophomores and a freshman, had the early advantage as two Astoria hitting errors and a tip kill by 6-2 soph Elle Anderson boosted the visitors to a 3-0 lead. Astoria would fight back to tie the score at fours before the teams got on the side-out see-saw. An ace serve by frosh defensive specialist Taelor Henderson gave the Tigers their last lead of the game at 10-8.
After another side out, Astoria's senior setter Sara Cullen served the Fish to a 13-10 advantage, helped by kills from Emily Bunnell and Sophie DeWitt. Bunnell would pilot another rally later in the game, serving four points with the second of her four aces to put Astoria up 23-14.
"Emily served really tough tonight," said Astoria head coach Angee Hunt. "She's got that nice topspin serve so when she's feeling it, the momentum, she can really rack up some points. She did a nice job all the way around of just playing a more prominent presence on the floor."
Bunnell would be featured up front on this night, as returning All-Cowapa League outside hitter Kristen Saulsbury took a seat on the bench after contributing one kill to the cause in the first game. Bunnell would display her versatility with six kills, while handling a number of tough serves from the Tigers.
"Y-C has some very strong servers," said Hunt. "Our serve receive really struggled tonight."
Cullen and Bunnell displayed a more aggressive service approach against Y-C, with Cullen mixing deep liners with an effective spin-free drop serve, placing all 12 of her efforts in the court, while leading Astoria in assists with 16.
Cullen served Astoria to a 5-0 lead in game two. Down 13-7, Yamhill rallied against Astoria's bench, closing to 14-14 on an ace serve by Sammie Weidner, the only senior to see court time for the Tigers, who were without two players slated to start the season and another, sophomore 5-10 middle blocker Sami Lee, who is just getting back into the flow after an ankle injury.
A net violation would give Astoria serve with a 19-17 lead and Bunnell quickly extended it to 23-17 with some strong serves and a back row kill off an assist by sophomore Kayce Lilley. Astoria scored the final two points of the game on a service error and a hitting error by Y-C.
After Y-C got the early jump again in game three, going up 2-0 and 4-2, Astoria got back-to-back long scoring runs with Hilary O'Bryan (19-20 serving for the game) and Emily Bunnell on serve. Astoria played some of its most inspired volleyball of the match as the Lady Fishermen ran off six straight points with Bunnell behind the line and Kayce Lilley setting. Ashley Martens and Meredith Barnes contributed kills and O'Bryan scored back row kill on a nice rally kept alive by some strong play in the back row by junior libero Kelsey Takko.
But, just when it seemed the Lady Fishermen would close out on an up note, the Tigers wrested momentum away with an 8-point run of their own with junior outside hitter Natalee Uhlich serving. Uhlich scored two aces, while Lee had two kills and a block during the run, which tied the game at 18-18. Astoria put the finishing touches on the game and the match by scoring seven of the next eight points with aces by Dani Bergeson and Sara Cullen couples with two service errors and three hitting errors by the Tigers.
"You're trying to get kids in off the bench and you've got momentum," said Hunt. "It's kind of a catch-22. Getting them in while there's still enough points in the game for them to get some worthwhile experience on the floor, yet trying to hopefully maintain the momentum.
"We were able to pull out of it. Those are situations that we have to be able to play through and be able to make subs in different situations. Maybe there's an injury? There's all sorts of unexpected things that can happen and we need to be able to play through that."
Barnes led Astoria in kills with eight as DeWitt and Saulsbury took a backseat to other players. Astoria gave up six service aces and did not get a single block for point in the match, but still emerged with the 3-game win. The Lady Fishermen close out the first of three tours through the Cowapa League with a road game at Banks Thursday night, followed by a trip to Seaside next Tuesday.
Yamhill-Carlton dropped to 2-2 with the loss, with wins over Banks and Seaside and losses to Scappoose and Astoria.
posted by Matt Richert at 9:03 PM
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