Vikings host Elmira in home opener Tuesday
The Siuslaw Vikings volleyball team may be set for a good week this week with two home matches, Tuesday against the Elmira Falcons and Thursday against the Pleasant Hill Billies.
Siuslaw (1-1) hosts the Falcons (0-2) at 6:30 p.m. at Glenn Butler Court in the Vikings' home opener.
Thursday's match with the Billies (1-1) is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Elmira will take a 28-match losing streak into Tuesday's meeting with the Vikings. The Falcons are ranked No. 40 among the 40 Class 4A schools by the Oregon School Activities Association. Siuslaw is No. 25.
Elmira was 0-17 last season, including a 3-0 loss at home to Siuslaw on Sept. 2, 2015. The Vikings won that match by scores of 25-14, 25-23, 25-20.
The Falcons have not won on the court since Aug. 28, 2014, with the only win in their past 36 matches a forfeit by Junction City.
The Billies also have some work to do to improve their OSAA ranking, which currently is No. 38 among the 40 Class 3A schools.
Pleasant Hill, which hosts Oakridge on Tuesday, swept Class 2A Santiam in the Billies' most recent match, 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-17).
The Vikings opened the season Thursday starting Elyssa Rose and Makenzie York at middle blockers, Claire Waggoner at outside hitter, Brittany Long at right side, Abby Watkins at setter and Maci Wells at libero.
Mia Collins and McKenzie Colton rotated at outside hitter, while Emma Collins rotated with Watkins.
The Vikings' final warm up for Far West League play is Saturday at the Canby Varsity Tournament.
Siuslaw hosts South Umpqua at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, in the two schools' league opener. The Lancers are currently 1-1 and ranked No. 32 by the OSAA.
NOTES
Both Elmira and Siuslaw feature first-year coaches, Barbara Casarez for the Falcons and Jon Hornung for the Vikings. ...
Hornung is assisted by Dan Bartlett, whose daughter, Angela Bartlett, is a sophomore co-captain of the Vikings' junior varsity. ...
The Vikings junior varsity is coached by Kari Blake, who is assisted by Travis Blake. ...
Junior varsity matches are best-of-5 this season, a change from best-of-3. Both the Elmira and Pleasant Hill JV matches are scheduled for 5 p.m. ...
Cottage Grove (3-0) is ranked No. 1 among 4A schools by the OSAA. It was the Lions who ended the Vikings' 2015 season with a hard-fought 3-2 victory in a state tournament play-in game at Glenn Butler Court. ...
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