A Valiant effort
Valley Catholic traveled from Beaverton over the Santiam Pass and came home with the title at the Sisters Tournament on Saturday. The Valiants (10-1) defeated Burns in the quarters, toasted Melba, from Idaho, in the semis and swept Crook County in the championship match.
“The Sisters tournament is always at a great part of the season,” said coach Becky Kemper. “It is like the start to the climb to the state tournament, and there are always quality teams there.”
Standouts for Valley included OH Madison Sherby, who led the team with 43 kills; middles Willa Kayfes and Maeve Albert, who teamed for 60 kills; and setter Jaya McGregor, who is playing fast and fearless.
The Valiant defense took a big step up on Saturday, led by junior libero Sami Shivakumar, who had her best day of the year. Serving also was key to the tournament. Addie Emerson had eight and Sherby contributed seven.
“This team is probably one of the most well-rounded teams I have ever coached,” said Kemper, whose team won the state 3A title in 2022. “We don't have one rotation where we don't have at least two solid hitters in the front row.”
Oly out come free
Sprague captured the gold bracket championship at its home Oly Invite Varsity Tournament on Saturday. The Olympians swept North Medford for the title and did not drop a set all day.
Brooke Friesen (20 kills, 24 assists, 16 digs, four aces), Khloe Livingston (22 kills, 16 digs, three aces) and Evie Morrisette (37 assists, 15 digs, nine kills, three aces) sparked the effort.
Note: Sprague’s five-match winning streak was snapped last night by Westview, which won an endowment match in four sets, 25-19, 25-22, 19-25, 25-22.
Walker has West Linn running
Longtime West Linn junior varsity coach Kathy Walker became the varsity head coach this year after Emilie Smith left after seven years, including a 6A state title in 2021.
The Lions, who were 9-13 a year ago, started 4-1 under Walker, who has coached in the program for 12 years. A win over Sprague at the season-opening Central Catholic Tournament jump-started their season.
Eight varsity performers from last year returned for West Linn, including three seniors, setter Allie Hawk, an athletic floor leader with great hands; outside Alexa Cornell, a power hitter with a competitive spirit; and middle Claire Johnson. Juniors Amelia Haj and Kennedy Toomer have been strong scorers. Freshman libero Audrina Peia has earned the starting libero spot with her work ethic and quickness.
Others making contributions include freshman Gigi Martin, athletic transfer Tayanah Balensifer, a middle; and transfer Sophia Silva, who plays tall whether in the middle or on the right side.
“We've been working hard to raise the level of expectations,” Walker said. “We've been focusing on integrating our returners and talented freshmen into our system, which emphasizes fundamentals, team chemistry, and instilling a winning mentality.”
Footloose in Scappoose
Scappoose has started the fall season 6-0 in counting matches after going 10-11 last year. Two of the wins have come against traditional power Tillamook.
Head coach Paka Searle is in his second full year at the helm. He and assistant coach, Lopaka Searle, both are from Hawaii and the island spirit is prevalent in everything they do.
“We continue to reinforce the tribe/family aspect throughout the entire program,” Coach Searle said. “At the center of what we are doing in Scappoose is ALOHA.”
Credit for the fast start extends beyond the coaching staff to the players as well.
“After last season, the returning varsity athletes as well as a good core of JV athletes were committed to training in the off season,” Searle said. “They worked to improve their volleyball IQ as well as their physical abilities.”
The roster of 12 includes four seniors, four juniors and four sophomores.
“They play unselfishly, trust each other, and believe in the volleyball system that we are coaching,” Searle said.
Senior co-captains Aryanna Searle, an outside hitter; and Ashlynn Komp, the libero; have been a steadying influence on the team and have complementary leadership styles.
“Aryanna brings her knowledge and understanding of our offensive game to the court and is able to guide her teammates in a way that has positively affected our season,” the coach explained. “Ashlynn's strong defensive game and vocal leadership has helped to build resilience within the team through the many adversities that we've overcome so far this season.”
Can’t be beat!
Scappoose is one of only 12 teams in all of Oregon without an official loss on its record. (I use the term “official” because Oregon tournaments also typically include pool play matches that are not played to at least to 25 points best-of-three and do not count for OSAA’s purposes.)
Some of the other unbeaten teams, like Jesuit, South Albany, Marist Catholic and Pleasant Hill, are not a surprise.
Jesuit (9-0) has won three straight since the last Notebook. Julia Paulson, Hayden McGehee and Addy Azavedo combined for 10 aces in a win over Mountainside and, last night, the Crusaders handed Metro League rival Sunset a straight-set defeat. Jesuit has yet to lose a set this year.
South Albany (5-0) had a big road win at two-time defending 5A champion Crescent Valley last Thursday. Senior Taelyn Bentley, a transfer from CV, led the way with 15 kills, seven digs and four aces. Maddie Angel contributed 14 digs and strong serve-receive passing.
Marist Catholic (6-0), the defending 4A state champion, faces a test today against Cascade, which finished third in 4A last fall.
Pleasant Hill is now 9-0 after yesterday’s four-set win over Sisters, the team the Billies lost to in the 3A state championship match last fall. Among its nine wins, Pleasant Hill has defeated last year’s 5A state champion, 4A runner up, 3A champion and 3A third-place finisher.
Other unbeaten teams, like Century and Willamette Valley Christian, are more of a surprise.
Century, which was 4-12 last year, improved to 3-0 with a win over Liberty on Thursday. Setter Callie Turner was a spark with 11 service aces.
Willamette Valley Christian is 5-0 after winning just four matches in all of 2023.
The remaining unbeatens include Centennial (5-0), Dayton (8-0), Douglas (4-0), Coquille (5-0), Lowell (7-0) and Umpqua Valley Christian (5-0).
Heading in the other direction?
Unfortunately, there are teams that have yet to win a match in 2024. How many? Twenty-nine (29) by my count. That’s a massive number more than three weeks into the season.
We won’t name those teams here and instead wish good fortune upon them that they experience the thrill of victory really soon.
News and notes
Piper Hanson, a 5-7 outside hitter, had a monster match in Creswell’s five-set loss to North Bend last Tuesday. The sophomore recorded 25 kills and 21 digs.
Single-match Stat stars
We have begun asking coaches on our bulk email list to help compile a list of astounding single-game statistical achievements! We will keep a running tally of players who stat at these levels for a single match:
50 assists or more in a match
25 kills or more in a match
30 digs or more in a match
8 blocks or more in a match
10 aces or more in a match
Here’s what we have so far…
50 or more assists in a match
54 – Abby Maulding, 5-9 Jr. S, La Salle Prep (5A) – Sept. 12 versus Canby
25 or more kills in a match
35 -- Avery Herber, 6-2 Soph. OH, Western Christian (2A) – Sept. 5 versus Crosshill Christian
30 – Audra Rose, 6-3 Sr. MB, St. Paul (1A) – Aug. 31 versus Culver
28 – Tatum Montiel, 5-11 Sr. Oh, Marshfield (4A) – Aug. 30 versus Cascade
27 -- Akylah Kaino, 6-1 Sr. OH, Burns (3A) – Sept. 10 versus Pendleton
26 – Hayley Schaaf, 6-3 Jr. MB, Catlin Gabel (3A) – Sept. 7 versus Amity
26 – Audra Rose, 6-3 Sr. MB, St. Paul (1A) – Aug. 30 versus Central Christian
26 – Allison Waechter, 6-0 Jr. OH, Sutherlin (3A) – Sept. 12 versus Harrisburg
26 – Josie Essner, 5-10 Sr. MB, Monroe (2A) – Sept. 7 versus Oakridge
30 or more digs in a match
34 -- Lindsey Arritola, 5-4 Jr. OH, Blanchet Catholic (3A) – Sept. 5 versus Scio
30 -- Nadia Gremar, 5-6 Jr. OH, Knappa (2A) – Sept. 10 versus Vernonia
8 or more blocks in a match
9 – Lydia Grassman, 5-10 Jr. OH, Franklin (6A) – Sept. 3 versus Liberty
9 – Braeli Martin, 6-0 Sr. MB, West Salem (6A0 – Sept. 3 versus South Salem
8 – Audra Rose, 6-3 Sr. MB, St. Paul (1A) – Aug. 30 versus Central Christian
8 – Addyson Clark, 5-11 Sr. MB, Sutherlin (3A) – Sept. 12 versus Harrisburg
10 or more aces in a match
13 – Bella Slattum, 5-8 Sr. S, West Salem (6A) – Sept. 5 versus North Salem
11 -- Callie Turner, 5-4 Sr. S, Century (6A) – Sept. 12 versus Liberty
11 -- Callie Turner, 5-4 Sr. S, Century (6A) – Sept. 3 versus Southridge
Coaches may email johnt@osaa.org to add to the list at any time. Please replicate the format seen above.
College-Bound!
In this space, we list those players, in the current senior class and younger, who have made a commitment to attend a college or university of their choice and play volleyball.
Here’s who we have so far. We will add to this list in subsequent notebooks as we receive notifications.
Ava Ainsworth, 6-1 Sr. S, Marshfield – Western Oregon University
Addy Azavedo, 5-7 Sr. libero, Jesuit -- Washington
Madi Andrews, 6-1 Jr. OH, Nelson – Michigan State
Taelyn Bentley, 5-11 Sr. MB, South Albany – South Florida
Mylee Blake, 6-1 Sr. OH, West Albany -- Montana
Katie Brewer, 6-1 Sr. MB, Centennial - Portland State
Jackie Carle, 5-7 Sr. S/DS, Jesuit – Washington State
Giana Elgarico, 5-11 Sr. OH Marist Catholic – University of Oregon
Joya Euhus, 6-1 Sr. OH, Santiam Christian -- Houston Christian University
Emma Fauth, 6-0 Sr. OH, Wilsonville – Humboldt State
Cheyenne Green, 6-1 Sr. OH, Pleasant Hill – Oregon State
Bailey Henderson, 5-4 Sr. libero, Century -- Pacific University
Hayden McGehee, 5-7 Sr. S, Jesuit – Belmont
Kamden Mitchell, 5-10 Sr. S, Crescent Valley -- University of Oregon
Evie Morrissette, 6-0 Sr. S, Sprague – Seattle University
Audra Rose, 6-2 Sr. MB, St. Paul – Seattle Pacific University
Avalynn Roundy, 6-2 Sr. MB, Marist Catholic -- Grand Canyon University
Hayley Schaaf, 6-3 Jr. MB, Catlin Gabel -- Northwestern
Steel Sinai, 6-4 Sr. MB, Westview -- Temple University
Paige Thies, 6-2 Sr. OH, Oregon City -- University of Arizona
Email johnt@osaa.org to add commitments to the list. Please replicate the format you see above.
johnt@osaa.org
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