Marshfield’s volleyball team needed little time Thursday night to see what it was missing last year when Amber Owen was injured.

The junior outside hitter, who played in just one match last season, had 13 kills Thursday as the Pirates swept visiting Siuslaw in the season opener for both schools.

“It’s definitely nice to have her around,” Marshfield coach Tammie Montiel said after the Pirates’ 25-14, 25-17, 25-19 win.

Owen ended up needing hip surgery because of her injury last year. She then spent the summer working on her strength and jumping abilities, and showed off that improved strength Thursday, getting great height on some of her attacks.

“Surprisingly, I came back even better than I was before the injury,” said Owen, who wore a bright smile after the match. “I’m loving it.”

At one point in the third game, Owen had four kills in five points, stretching a 16-13 lead into a 21-13 advantage.

Owen gave her team a great grade for the season-opening match.

“I think we pushed ourselves on offense,” she said, happy that the Pirates kept the pace of the offense.

In addition to Owen, Kara Young and Kirby Neale had six kills each and setter Nikki Gross also had six kills and dealt out 25 assists.

Montiel was happy with how Gross played.

“Nikki played well,” she said, adding that Gross adjusted to some of the challenging passes and gave her hitters a chance to make attacks.

Neale had kills to end both the second and third games and Young had a couple of big kills even though she is recovering from a slight ankle injury and wasn’t able to play the entire rotation.

When she can, she’ll combine with Owen to give the Pirates a great 1-2 punch on opposite ends of the rotation from each other.

Montiel also was pleased with Marshfield’s defense. The team has been working on a new style of defense, which requires the players to read the offensive attack of the opponent more than in the past.

“They’re doing a better job of making those reads and being able to adjust a little better,” Montiel said.

Owen and Katelyn Richmond each had nine digs, while libero Kaylee Anderson also made several nice saves.

While Montiel was happy with the Pirates’ effort, Siuslaw coach Amy Peterson, who was Montiel’s teammate at Linfield College, wasn’t so thrilled with her team’s play.

Peterson knew the Vikings were playing a bigger school with a great tradition, but she hoped they would keep the match competitive.

“I was hoping for not a bloodbath,” she said. “That was a tough first match.”

She was pleased with the play of veteran setter Leigh Aurich, who had 25 assists despite the team struggling in serve-receive. Seabre Church had eight kills.

The Vikings lost one of their returning players during the preseason when Maddy McClellan went down with a knee injury that will require surgery. But Peterson hopes the Vikings can round into shape in time to defend their Far West League title.

“I think we’ll be all right,” she said.

Both teams are back in action this weekend, when Marshfield plays in the Rogue Valley Invitational and Siuslaw plays in the Reedsport Tournament.