Enterprise went up against the top two volleyball teams in the 2-A division Saturday and although they lost, the narrowness of the margins was a revelation.

The Outlaws won in a close battle with the Oregon Schools Activities Association (OSSA) number 35-ranked Cove Thursday (25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 21-25, 15-7).

Coming off the win, the Lady Outlaws came into the game with Grant Union Saturday with confidence on their home court.

The Outlaws took the first game, 25-20, flooring the OSSA number two-ranked Prospectors.

The next three games in the match went to Grant Union (25-16, 25-15, 25-11) but those scores don’t tell the story of the battles. It was 9 to 9, and then 11 to 11, and then 12 to 12 in that second game before the Prospectors managed to pull into the lead.

The Lady Outlaws made them work for it all the way.

“We played great against Grant Union,” Coach LaShanda Gill said. “We played great defense and dug the ball well. We played as one and worked hard for every point.”

Number one-ranked Burns, however, proved to be too much for the ladies, winning handily (25-11, 25-14, 25-9).

What’s obvious watching the Outlaws is they love this game – and kudos to Coach LaShawnda Gill and Assistant Coach Amy Stangel.

Every girl was firing on all cylinders over the weekend and the enthusiasm and spirit of the team continues to be infectious.

The coaches know how to grown their team’s stamina and skill. Every week we look into the mirror of the opposing team see some little area where our ladies can improve and the next week we see the Outlaws in warm up demonstrating new skills in exactly those areas.

The Lady Outlaws meet Eglin in Elgin Oct. 15 and then to the Union 3-way followed by the Imbler 3-way, both in Union, Oct. 17.