Junction City hands Lady Vikings 3-0 loss


Defending Sky-Em League volleyball champion Junction City is again the team to beat this season.
 
Thursday, the Lady Tigers swept the visiting Siuslaw Vikings, 3-0, to improve to 4-0 in league and 6-0 overall.
 
Junction City, which has won its last 15 league matches, beat Siuslaw 25-13, 25-21, 25-19.
 
The Lady Vikings, 1-2 in league and overall, play Tuesday at Cottage Grove, the second of five matches in a row on the road.
 
Siuslaw had its chances Thursday, especially in the second and third sets.
 
The third set featured 11 ties, the last at 17-all after Siuslaw had a 17-14 lead. But the Lady Tigers scored 11 of the final 13 points, the match-winner a block by 6-foot senior middle blocker Sophia Francois.
 
The Lady Vikings held the edge for most of the second set, building leads of 12-6 and 19-14. The Lady Tigers took their first lead of the set at 21-20 and won going away, also scoring 11 of the final 13 points.
 
Tied at 9-9 in the first set, Junction City scored the next seven points and 16 of the final 20 to cruise to victory.
 
Junction City won the Sky-Em League with a 10-0 record in 2019 when the Lady Tigers finished No. 4 in Class 4A, losing in the state semifinals.