South Salem’s varsity volleyball team retreats to the bench for a timeout during a first-round OSAA 6A playoff contest. Photo taken by Connor Stewart, ’26
Season and Playoff Results So Far
What was a normal Saturday afternoon for the rest of Salem was another emphatic playoff win for Saxon volleyball. Two days removed from a 3-0 victory over Century High, South’s varsity volleyball squad defeated Barlow High School’s 3-0. As South is the second seed in this year’s Oregon State Athletic Association’s (OSAA) 6A tournament, they had home-court privileges again, hosting 18-seed Barlow at 1 p.m. today.
Heading into today’s game, South had not lost since an October 11 non-conference game. Likewise, they came into the game allowing their first-round opponent to score only 25 points, the lowest of this year’s post-season. As for Barlow, they rode high on the underdog mindset, following their 3-0 upset of 15-seed West Salem High.
South and Barlow came into today’s game with records of 25-4 and 15-6, respectively. From a wider look, South has now won 66 sets this year — the second-best mark in 6A this year — and Barlow has won 42. Further, South has lost just 13 while Barlow has lost 21.
First Set Fight
To start the game, South Salem sent out twins Addison and Avery Herber, ’28, Ellenia Setzer, ’27, Ava Hillebrand, ’26 and captains Briella Mathis, ’26 and Kamree Orizotti, ’26. South’s gymnasium went ablaze during their on-court introductions, with family and friends alike cheering on the players.
While Barlow was the first to serve, South was first on the scoreboard with a spike from Addison Herber. Similar to their first round game, South never let Barlow have a lead in the first two sets. But, they did tie on two separate occasions in the first set today, at both the 5-5 and 8-8 mark. Today’s match started like tug-a-war, and Barlow gave South an initial run for their money, but they never had enough momentum to pull away.
While South swept today’s game, Barlow kept a competitive game with various rallies; the longest rally happened at the 11-9 mark of the first. It was a continuous battle between both team’s blockers. Although Barlow took two separate timeouts in the first, at the 16-11 and 20-13 marks, they were not enough to overcome the deficit. Avery Herber killed the set with a back court spike, winning South the set 25-16.
Heated-Up Second and Third Sets
After earning possession from the last set, Orizotti opened the second with a low-arching serve which resulted in an ace. From there the Lady Saxons went on a 6-1 run, which led to another Barlow timeout, their third of the night.
Then, at the 12-3 mark in the second there was a questionable judgement ruling which garnered attention from all referees and coaches. Originally, it was an out-of-bounds call against South, which would have given Barlow a point. However, after an intervention the judges ruled the opposite and awarded the Lady Saxons the point, moving to 13-3. The on-court players erupted with joy and ran together to huddle and hug before they resumed play. After the excitement, South kept up a healthy lead, eventually winning the set 25-12 with a spike from Mathis.
Capturing their first lead of the night in the third, Barlow looked to rejuvenate and hopefully steal a set. And, while the first half of the set was back and forth, Avery Herber’s spike cut right through Barlow’s blockers, upping the score to 11-5 and sending Barlow into another timeout. At this point, South’s bench could start to taste the win; with every timeout they grew hungrier to end the match and celebrate. Building momentum, South went on a 7-3 run after the timeout, and Addison Herber’s block sent Barlow back to the bench for the fourth and final time. Even though Barlow was able to regroup after their timeouts, they were not enough as after an unsuccessful possession they lost the third 25-20 and the game as well.
Now What?
With this second win and a perfect 6-0 playoff set record, South now heads to the OSAA’s 6A Quarterfinals, set at Forest Grove High. While exciting, this is not uncharted territory for the Lady Saxons; their squad made it here last postseason, eventually placing sixth overall. This year’s Quarterfinals are from November 7-8 and South will first play on November 7 at 3:15 p.m. Their opponent is South Eugene, a team who boasts a 22-3 record and stands as the seventh seed. They also played their second-round game today, defeating Westview High, the 10-seed, 3-0.
If South wins this game against South Eugene, they will play the winner of Oregon City and Jesuit High that same night at 8:30 p.m. But, if unsuccessful they will play through the consolation bracket, where they compete against the other Quarterfinals losers. These consolation games happen on November 8, the last day of the tournament.
