The Siuslaw volleyball team took care of business Tuesday, with a 3-1 victory over Marshfield at Coos Bay.

Wednesday night they mix business with pleasure, honoring seniors Zoe Alberty, Hayden Muller and Alizabeth Norton. First serve against Elmira is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

"What a night for our Lady Viks — we took Marshfield in four sets (25-10, 25-12, 17-25, 25-17) on the road tonight!" Siuslaw coach Kari Blake said after Tuesday's big win. "Our goal tonight was to play a clean, fast game and we did just that.

"I was really proud of the girls. They played extremely well as a team and individually. They started strong and never lost their focus. They are really finding their stride, and I couldn't be any happier with their performance tonight."

The Lady Vikings are now alone in second place in the Sky-Em League at 5-2, just a game behind league-leading Cottage Grove.

Cottage Grove swept at Elmira on Tuesday, 25-12, 25-13, 25-16, to retain a grip on first place at 6-1. Marshfield and Junction City share third place at 4-3.

"Our back row tonight was on FIRE!" Blake said. "Hayden Muller had 32 digs and 41 perfect passes while Meika Shappell had 28 perfect passes and 44 digs on the night. Our setters Zoe Alberty and Brynlee Manues did an excellent job of spreading the ball around to our big hitters and they did it with very good accuracy. 

"Our entire back row was taking some big hits off of Marshfield and Meika Shappell had some amazing digs to keep the ball in play. Hayden's passes were impeccable throughout the whole match, and I was just so impressed with how well the back row was reading the court."

Dominating the first two sets, Siuslaw appeared to be on the verge of a sweep after taking a 9-6 lead in the third set.

The Pirates, however, went on a 9-0 run for a 15-9 lead, then never allowed Siuslaw closer than three points the rest of the set.

Marshfield seemed poised to take control of the match, storming to an 8-1 lead in the fourth set.

But the Lady Vikings fought back to tie at 11, and they never trailed after gaining the lead at 14-13. Siuslaw scored the final four points of the match on Desiree Tupua's serve. Match point came on a Marshfield mishit into the net.

"Our hitters really found their groove and just pounded the ball into Marshfield's defensive holes," Blake said. "Desiree Tupua had a big night tonight with 18 kills, 2 tips for points and 6 blocks and 5 aces. Desi is such a smart player.

"Mylee Blake also had a big night with 12 kills. She had some really great swings and she was just hitting the ball really hard tonight. Hailee Outlaw came hard fast and hard, earning 3 kills in the first 4 plays. She had 9 kills on the night along with 2 blocks.

"Rhianna Lane showed really great control and patience on the net tonight. She had 4 kills and 5 blocks for us. Our front row got their hands on a lot of Marshfield's attackers. I'm addition to the blocks logged by Desi, Rhianna and Hailee, Ashley Hennessee had 3, Alizabeth Norton had 2 and Zoe Alberty had 1 for a team total of 19 blocks."

After Wednesday, the Lady Vikings close their regular season with a tournament Saturday at Marshfield and league matches Tuesday at Junction City and Thursday at Cottage Grove.

NOTES

Siuslaw coach Kari Blake is scheduled to Wayne Sharpe's guest on Coast Radio's (FM106.9) Vikings Sports Talk at 7:25 a.m. Thursday. ...

The Sky-Em League has three teams in the top nine in the OSAA 4A rankings — Cottage Grove No. 5, Siuslaw No. 8 and Junction City No. 9. Marshfield now is No. 15. … Cottage Grove hosts Junction City on Thursday. …

The Lady Vikings currently are on track to clinch one of the eight automatic qualifying berths in the 4A playoffs .... If Siuslaw is an AQ, it would skip the play-in round, go straight to the 16-team bracket and likely host the third-place team from the loaded Oregon West Conference, which includes No. 1 Sisters, No. 2 Cascade and No. 6 Sweet Home ...

Siiuslaw (10-5) has won 9 of their past 11 matches, the only losses in five sets to both Marshfield and Cottage Grove. ...

SIUSLAW SCHEDULE
Record: 10-5 overall, 5-2 Sky-Em League
Aug. 31 — Siuslaw 3, Phoenix 0, at Sutherlin (25-18, 25-11, 25-16)
Aug. 31 — at Sutherlin 3, Siuslaw 2 (15-25, 14-25, 25-19, 25-11, 15-8)
Sept. 8 — at Pleasant Hill 3, Siuslaw 2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 16-14)
Sept. 11 — at North Bend 3, Siuslaw 0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-22)
Sept. 18 — Siuslaw 2, Marist 0 (25-23, 25-22), at Sisters Tournament
Sept. 18 — Siuslaw 2, Vale 1 (25-16, 20-25, 15-9), at Sisters Tournament
Sept. 21 — Siuslaw 3, at Marist 0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-15)
Sept. 23 — Marshfield 3, at Siuslaw 2 (16-25, 25-19, 23-25, 26-24, 15-10)
Sept. 28 — Siuslaw 3, at Elmira 1 (20-25, 25-6, 25-18, 25-21)
Sept. 30 — at Siuslaw 3, Junction City 1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 25-18)
Oct. 2 — Siuslaw 2, Klamath Union 0 (26-24, 25-9), at Junction City Tournament
Oct. 2 — Siuslaw 2, Junction City 1 (22-25, 25-5, 25-12), at Junction City Tournament
Oct. 5 — Cottage Grove 3, at Siuslaw 2 (23-25, 13-25 25-14, 25-21, 15-10)
Oct. 7 — at Siuslaw 3, Marist 0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-12)
Oct. 12 — Siuslaw 3, at Marshfield 1 (25-10, 25-12, 17-25, 25-17)
Wednesday, Oct. 13 — Elmira, 6:45 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 16 — at Marshfield Tournament
Tuesday, Oct. 19 — at Junction City, 6:45 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 21 — at Cottage Grove, 6:45 p.m.
Coach: Kari Blake
Assistant: Kya Blake
JV coach: Aylenne Vasquez

SIUSLAW VARSITY ROSTER
  1 Kristin Wall, setter, sophomore, 4-11
  2 Hayden Muller, libero, senior, 5-3, co-captain
  3 Rhianna Lane, middle blocker, freshman, 6-0
  4 Mylee Blake, outside hitter, freshman, 6-0
  5 Meika Shappell, defensive specialist, sophomore, 5-0
  6 Desiree Tupua, middle blocker, junior, 5-8
  7 Hailee Outlaw, outside hitter, junior, 5-8
  8 Ashley Hennessee, right side, sophomore, 5-7
  9 Brynlee Manues, setter, sophomore, 5-4
10 Zoe Alberty, setter, senior, 5-7, co-captain
11 Alizabeth Norton, middle blocker, senior, 5-9
12 Ava Center, opposite hitter, sophomore, 5-5
13 Cate Waggoner, defensive specialist, sophomore, 5-2

SIUSLAW JUNIOR VARSITY
  1 Macali Ladę, defensive specialist, freshman
  2 Abigail Riggs, outside hitter, freshman, 5-3
  3 Jolee Erickson, libero, freshman
  4 Sydney Barnett, middle blocker, sophomore
  5 Makayla Bender, defensive specialist, freshman, 5-4
  7 Mesa Earls, outside hitter, freshman, 5-5
  8 Kimberly Martinez-Munoz, outside hitter, freshman, 5-7
11 Megan Alberty, setter, freshman, 5-6
12 Bailey Myrick, middle blocker, junior, 5-7
14 Mya Smith, sophomore, 5-3
15 Malaia Snider, middle blocker, sophomore
16 Brianna Pavesich, middle blocker, sophomore, 5-10
17 Jordyn Breeden, defensive specialist, freshman