SEASIDE – Road wins in Cowapa League volleyball are like gold. Hard to find, but very valuable.

Then again, it helps when you have a “home court advantage” when you go into somebody else’s gym.

The Astoria Fishermen brought along a good portion of their fan base Tuesday night, and it helped the Fish post a Clatsop Clash win at Seaside, 25-18, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18.

The “Brick House Boyz” made their presence felt in Seaside’s home gym, out-shouting the home crowd and helping Astoria pick up a much-needed victory.

“I think that was the best away crowd we’ve ever had,” said Astoria’s Kelsie Houghtaling, who led the Fishermen with 16 kills. “They were great. Their cheering really helped, and it felt good to have them there.”

Jordan Thoreson had 10 kills and Olive Israel added five kills for Astoria, which had to overcome some early serving errors and hitting mistakes.

The Fishermen bounced back with strong efforts in Games 3 and 4.

Tied 11-11 in Game 1, Astoria reeled off seven straight points, thanks in part to four straight attack errors on the Gulls. Kayce Lilley set up kills for Houghtaling, Thoreson and Israel late in the game.

The Fishermen appeared to pick up where they left off in Game 2, as Israel served Astoria from an 8-5 deficit to a 14-8 lead. Astoria led 18-13 before the Gulls rallied.

Sarah LaCoste had sets for Sophie LaCoste and Riley Tadei that resulted in points, Taylor Davis added a service ace for a 21-20 lead, and Tadei helped finish it off with a directional tap and a block as Seaside won Game 2.

“I’m not sure if we let up, as much as Seaside just played well,” said Astoria coach Eric Gohr. “We couldn’t put them away. They played tough, they played hard, and I knew when they made that run that we were in for a battle.

“We didn’t cave in,” he said. “(The Gulls) just never gave up. They were down by quite a bit, they answered us, and then just took over the game.”

After the Game 2 loss, “coach Gohr just kind of told us that we needed to pick it up, and said we needed to focus on what we were doing,” Houghtaling said. “We were doing some good things, but there were definitely some things we needed to improve on. We needed to play with confidence – that was kind of our theme tonight.”

And the Fishermen returned to their winning ways in Game 3.

A jump-serve ace by Thoreson gave Astoria a 9-5 advantage, and Kat Gauthier added a kill off a block as the Fish maintained a four- to six-point lead for most of the game. Haley Larson closed it out with a service ace.

The Gulls would hold an early 4-2 lead in Game 4, but Astoria came storming back behind 10 straight service points from Houghtaling for a 12-4 lead.

A few off-speed kills by Gauthier led up to a power kill from Houghtaling that had the Fishermen Fanatics on their feet, and Astoria ahead 21-14.

An ace by Seaside’s Cali Riser had the Gulls within 21-17, but two Seaside hitting errors and a service ace by Houghtaling at match point ended the contest.

“Kelsie had a nice serving run,” Gohr said. “Aliisa (Norris) missed her first serve, so we’ll raz her about that. But she’s been serving well, and she bounced back.

“And Shelby Coggins was instrumental. I put her in, and she picked us up, providing some passing and some key defense.”

Larson was 8-for-8 from the service line, while Houghtaling was 19-of-21 with three aces.

The Gulls were coming off a three-game sweep over Scappoose last week, despite several players battling the flu.

“Seaside plays really scrappy on defense,” Houghtaling said. “We knew that coming in, so we were trying to put our hits in good spots. But Haley Nice and some of their other players are really scrappy, and they do a good job.”

Gohr, meanwhile, was also appreciative of the Astoria crowd support.

“The support they give us is great,” he said. “Hopefully our girls don’t hear a lot of it. They’re teenagers and student-athletes and I know they do, but hopefully when it comes time to focus, they want to win the game. The crowd can help, but the crowd can also put more pressure on your team.”

Astoria improves to 6-1 in league play, still very much in title contention with Yamhill-Carlton. The two teams play at Yamhill (Oct. 29) in the final regular season match.

Warrenton def. OESWARRENTON – Warrenton outlasted Oregon Episcopal in a Lewis & Clark League volleyball match Tuesday, 25-13, 18-25, 25-20, 14-25, 15-7.

An outstanding night at the service line helped the Warriors, who were 90-for-96 serving.

Leading the way were Maddy Smotherman (15-15), Brooklyn Campbell (14-14), Emma Bussert (17-18) and Chelsea Smotherman (16-17).

Campbell was 25-of-30 hitting with eight kills, while Payton Hummell had four blocks – including several in the final game – to pace Warrenton at the net.

The Warriors host Clatskanie Thursday.

De La Salle def. KnappaKNAPPA – De La Salle topped the Knappa Loggers in three games Tuesday night, 25-16, 25-21, 25-21.

Knappa’s Kate Shear was 12-for-12 serving, Rachel Tadei was 10-for-11, while Kaitlin Junes had six kills and Addie Nichols finished with eight digs.

Girls SoccerBanks 1, Seaside 0BANKS – Illness and injuries proved to be too much to overcome for the Seaside girls soccer team Tuesday, as Banks posted a 1-0 upset over the Gulls in a District 1 contest.

Seaside was missing seven varsity players due to illness or injury.

The Gulls still had numerous shots on goal, hitting the crossbar and post three times.

Banks scored in the 10th minute, with Felicia Wilson scoring off a pass from Mackenzie Rohbock.

In other District 1 action, Oregon Episcopal defeated Astoria 7-0.