Lebanon Express writer

The Warrior volleyball team took a tough loss in stride and bounced back to even their league record at 1-1 last week.

On Sept. 11, Lebanon opened their Mid-Willamette Conference schedule with a home match against Crescent Valley. Though Lebanon expected the Raiders to be tough, they didn't expect a three-game defeat.

Head coach Adam Ellis praised the defensive play of Nikki Miller in the loss, but said Crescent Valley had what it took as a team.

&#8220They played much better than we did on Tuesday and deserved to win," he said.

Fortunately, the Warriors did the only thing they could do with the loss: Learn from it and move on.

&#8220The team responded very well" to the defeat, Ellis said, noting that the next day's practice was excellent. &#8220It was definitely a learning experience for them."

Ellis gave his squad good grades for their Sept. 13 performance against Woodburn. Playing on the road, the Warriors swept the Bulldogs by scores of 25-13, 25-17 and 25-19.

Woodburn has a new coach and is a much improved team than in years past, Ellis noted.

He doesn't expect any of the MWC contests to be easy for the Warriors. Tuesday they played Silverton (1-1). Results were not available at press time. Thursday, they host West Albany (2-0).

Ellis thinks his team is up for the challenge of the MWC.

&#8220Obviously, it's all a process," he said, &#8220and as long as they leave it all out on the court and work as hard as they possibly can and work together as a team, they'll be just fine."

MWC standings

(as of 9/17)

W L

C. Valley 2 0

Corvallis 2 0

W. Albany 2 0

Lebanon 1 1

Silverton 1 1

Dallas 0 2

S. Albany 0 2

Woodburn 0 2