By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
TURNER, Ore.– The Cascade Volleyball team overcame a slow start to their match with North Bend on Friday afternoon.
The energy was low coming off of their sweep of Stayton in a non-league match to open the Cascade Crossover, but the Cougars slowly pieced it together. Eventually overtaking the Bulldogs and taking the opening set 25-21 on what would be a 25-21, 25-20, 25-20 to close out the day 2-0.
The pair of games to start the season gave the Cougars something to work on, especially out of the gate against two playoff caliber squads in the Eagles and North Bend.
“They were pretty big, especially Stayton since they’re in our league. So seeing them before league is big for us so we can see how they play and see how we play against them.”
“Our serve-receive and our energy and how we cheer when we’re in our low,” said Hailey Abundiz. “It’s definitely hard for us… but our bench helps out a lot with keeping our energy up.”
Head Coach Cristina Williams points towards energy as one of the things she’ll like to see improved from her squad, but also knows that some of that came from nerves. With five new athletes on the roster, four being freshmen, she’s hoping that they’ll get comfortable moving into this weekend’s tournament at Cascade Christian in Medford
“That’s the one thing we got to work on. Today may have been nerves, maybe trying to figure out our roles on the team. But we will definitely bring more energy and bring more excitement for sure,” said Williams. “It was important for the girls to get their nerves out. To feel how it is, I have five new girls on the team, so having them know how we play and how we gel is really important. Getting the nerves out for my four freshmen, who are new to this.
“I want my girls to compete. I don’t know how we’re going to do. I don’t know how other teams are looking at the beginning of the season, but I just want them to compete and if we compete and work hard, then I’m happy with that,” Williams adds of the tournament.
The Cougars will return home on September 6 for their annual Cascade Tournament.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
