Junior Claire Waggoner

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Junior Claire Waggoner and her Siuslaw Vikings teammates don't start school until next week, but Tuesday they passed their first chemistry test.

And Wednesday they did it again, beating Elmira at Elmira, 25-14, 25-23, 25-20, to start the season 2-0.

Junior Elyssa Rose had 15 kills and 2 stuff blocks and junior HannahLeah Jakobsen 9 kills and 4 digs against Elmira.

"Abby Watkins had some important serves with two aces and three perfect passes on serve receive," said Angie Herring, the Vikings' second-year coach. "She (also had) some great defensive plays."

Tuesday it was a convincing 25-13, 25-10, 25-23 nonleague victory over the visiting Philomath Warriors, who had started school earlier in the day and then made the two-hour trip by bus to Florence.

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"All parts of our game were working really well tonight," said Waggoner, who was good on all 32 of her serves Tuesday against the Warriors, including five aces. "The group that we had on the court works really well together."

Team cohesion was a point of emphasis for Herring, who experimented with a number of lineups in last week's Marshfield Jamboree in Coos Bay.

"The teamwork thing was not quite there yet at the jamboree," said Herring, "and I felt they came together tonight.

"We worked hard this week on like celebrating our points, coming together as a team."

Waggoner was especially impressive Wednesday as the team made a big turnaround from a 1-3 record at the jamboree, where they lost to Far West League rivals Marshfield (25-13) and North Bend (25-12), blitzed Bandon (25-16) and then dropped a tough finale to Coquille (25-24).

"Claire Waggoner served just amazing for us (Tuesday night)," said Herring. "She stepped in there and did a great job."

More than half of Waggoner's serves came during a long run in the second game, when the Vikings broke from a 4-all tie to a 21-4 lead.

"It was a lot of serves, but I just kept putting them in," said Waggoner, who believes her serve is one of her big contributions to the team. "I know, especially when our team is having some inconsistency, I know I can go back out there and be consistent.

"That's one of the things I try to do for my team, just focus and put 'em all in."

Senior Taylor Dotson and Jakobsen also made significant contributions.

Dotson was a strong 14-for-14 on her serves, while Jakobsen was 16-for-16 in passing.

"HannahLeah had six perfect passes on serve receive," said Herring. "I was pleased with the (team) passing, especially just starting out. I felt they were resilient, too. If they missed a pass, they adjusted, and passed better the next round."

Herring also noted the play of senior libero Ali Scheer, who was a perfect 4-for-4 on serve receive.

"Alie did a good jop," said Herring. "She passed well, adjusted well. If you can pass to the target area on serve-receive, you can run anything off of it."

The Vikings hope to build on their early success next Thursday (Sept. 10) when they travel to Newport to battle the Cubs and Junction City in the final tuneup for the start of Far West League play.

Siuslaw opens league play Tuesday, Sept. 15, at South Umpqua, and follows that with its league home opener Thursday, Sept. 15, against Marshfield.

"It's super exciting," Waggoner said of the win over Philomath, and the Vikings' good team play. "I can't wait for the (league) season."