A year ago, Crosshill Christian volleyball reached new heights.
For the first time in program history, the Eagles were playing for a 2A state title, going against Salem Academy at Ridgeview High School in Redmond.
While the Eagles fell short in the match and took home second, the foundation had been set for what this team could achieve with only one senior on the roster.
In 2025, Crosshill Christian is off to a 6-0 start, picking up three wins at the Challenger Invitational hosted by Cascade Christian in Medford outside of pool play. Those wins came against 3A tournament team Santiam Christian, reigning 4A state champion Marshfield and Salem Academy, who moved up to 3A this season.
“When we went into the Medford tournament, we had been working hard and pushing hard, but when you don’t have competition – you’re just playing squad against squad – you don’t know exactly how it’s going to play out,” Eagles head coach Julie Bennett said. “Pool play was challenging and we didn’t come away with a lot of wins, but we came away with some great experience seeing faster balls, better defense, faster hitters. And it really reminded the girls that this is what we’re aiming for, to do this on a regular basis.”
The Eagles have kept that play up, sweeping Corbett following the Challenger Invite and then picking up two more wins at a tournament hosted by East Linn Christian, those wins coming over Santiam and North Lake.
And of course, out of those six wins, it’s hard to ignore the victory over Salem Academy after falling to the Crusaders last year.
But it was about more than revenge. Instead, it was another indicator of what the Eagles can achieve.
“We had a couple of goals that we were working with within (the match against SA) and we completed those goals,” Bennett said. “At the end, it felt like that was the way it should have been. Even though it was a redemption, it was a vindication of, ‘Yes, this is what we can do, this is where we want to go.’ It wasn’t something that we felt we played out of our heads.”
The other challenge after getting a taste of success is holding on to it by not letting it get to one’s head.
To combat that feeling in a roster that’s mostly the same, Bennett makes sure the team is purposeful with every practice.
“We work really hard in practice to be purposeful in the mundane,” Bennett said. “That’s a phrase we use to do the little stuff well and to do the little stuff with purpose.”
The Eagles have a few players who are anything but mundane though, starting with 6-foot-4 senior middle blocker Zoey Baker and 6-foot senior outside hitter Ellie Bartel.
The two each had 41 kills apiece this past week in the match against Corbett and the tournament at East Linn Christian. Baker hit at a 44% rate and Bartel wasn’t far behind at 33%, along with a handful of aces for Bartel.
The two make up three of the captains for the Eagles, making their importance greater than just the physical play on the court.
“(Baker) ripped a ball in practice, (Bartel) dug it and we were all just floored,” Bennett said. “And (Baker’s) first words were, ‘(Bartel) that was amazing!’ And you see this love and support for one another as they challenge each other, they’re not going to go easy. And yet they’re just as excited, in this case, (Baker) got dug. It challenges us to be better, how can we find the floor even against great players?”
Both have worked their way into being full-rotation players despite the towering size that often forces high school players out of the lineup when in the back row.
It’s been especially challenging for Baker at 6-foot-4, but the senior has worked hard to make sure that when she gets picked on in the back row, the opposing teams learns quickly it won’t work.
“(Baker) hasn’t done that in years past, but she says, ‘This is what I want,’” Bennett said. “She has worked for it, she’s trained for it, she recognizes that she’s got to accommodate for her height and she does a pretty good job handling the ball.”
Those two are a part of a five-person 2026 senior class that has changed the trajectory of the program alongside Bennett. The other three include outside hitter Sierra Poush, setter Hannah Dripps and libero Allison Koontz.
All five have started since their freshmen year, and all of them have made not only an impact on the court, but the community of Crosshill Christian.
“They are a bonded group. They are a group of servant leaders, they are a group of people who really play well together and are working to include all players,” Bennett said. “They’re just a phenomenal group of women, let alone players and teammates.”
The season rolls on with a 6 p.m. Sept. 11 match at home against Delphian before playing in the St. Paul Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 13.
After getting close to that state title, the Eagles know they have a target on their back each night now. But they welcome the challenge and are aiming to be right back in position to try and win it all come November.
“We knew that we’d have a target on our back, so we recognize that comes with challenging ourselves to not slack,” Bennett said. “We want to get there, we want to get to that championship match again. That is, right from the gate, where we’re aiming to be.”
austinw@osaa.org
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