A year ago, The Dalles made an improbable run to the state title match as the No. 7 seed in the 4A tournament before falling to Marist Catholic.
This fall, the Riverhawks lost some important seniors and dealt with early-season injuries, but they recovered to win the Tri-Valley Conference with a perfect 10-0 mark and enter the state playoffs as the No. 4 seed.
With all the moving parts this season of filling those holes left behind by impact seniors and new players stepping up through injury, head coach Teresa Morris has been impressed with the 18-4 overall record.
“This group, from the beginning, we've had a lot of injuries, a lot of changing lineups, and they always adapt to everything for the most part,” Morris said. “We just have so many players that are versatile. I can throw them in whatever position and they'll play it and they're adaptable and it's a pretty fun group of girls.”
One of the big losses for The Dalles was senior setter Caitlynn Gatton who had over 300 assists a season ago.
Morris admits the program is a little light on setters at the moment, but sophomore Taylor Tuia has stepped into the role this season running an effective 5-1.
The Riverhawks also lost a middle in Cleo Corbin, who was second in kills last year. In her place is senior Evelyn Rogers, who was third in kills last year, but has taken it to another level in 2026 by being adaptable between playing middle or being an outside hitter.
“She was a middle last year, but we've been able to utilize her as an outside,” Morris said. “If we need a bigger block, we put her on the right side. We can play her middle. She's another one that's been pretty versatile this year and helpful for us this year. … She also puts up a big block.”
Of course, The Dalles squad starts and ends with junior Jazlynn Morris-Holmes, a First-Team All-State player last year as a sophomore and who has been a first-team all-tournament player both as a freshman and sophomore.
Morris-Holmes entered the postseason last year with over 300 kills and a .300 hitting percentage, plus plenty of digs and aces.
The junior, who is also a strong setter, truly does a little bit of everything for the Riverhawks.
“We don’t tend to use her for (setting), we need her for hitting and defense,” Morris said. “Luckily she’s one that can just kind of step into any position and perform. She’s just got so much power and her volleyball IQ is just so high and she’s hitting out of more spots this year.”
Morris-Holmes, along with the three seniors that includes Rogers, Edie May and Manuia Crichon-Tunai are a part of the returning group that’s been trying to help the younger or newer players get up to speed.
Injuries didn’t make it easy, but the experience of playing for a state title last year is infectious, and the lessons learned from playing under those bright lights are being passed down.
“I think that was the first time that we've made it there in many years for The Dalles,” Morris said. “I think they have already kind of brought what they've learned to the other girls, you can't be scared, you just have to get out there, you have to play. We have nothing to lose. The ones coming back, they're all pretty competitive players, and just have that competitive mindset.”
Morris is correct, the title game appearance in 2025 was the first for the Riverhawks since 1994 when they lost the 3A title to La Salle Prep.
The Dalles has made four title game appearances in program history, a loss in 1986, its lone state title in 1989 and then the 1994 and 2005 runnerup finishes.
The quest for title No. 2 for the No. 4 seed begins against No. 13 Marshfield on Saturday, Oct. 31. Marshfield is the team the Riverhawks upset in the quarterfinals last year to get the underdog run going.
With a win, The Dalles would head back to the 4A state tournament, which is set for Nov. 6-7 at North Bend High School in Coos Bay.
There’s plenty of experience, versatility and calmness to the 2026 squad, and the Riverhawks hope that mix can be a winning formula.
“We struggled with a lot of injuries the first half of our season, so we're kind of still trying to figure out lineup lines, what works best for us now that we have everybody back and healthy,” Morris said of what a run back to the title game will take. “But honestly, it's just go in and play. Go play, have fun and go compete.”
More highlights
The 6A play-in round took place Saturday, Oct. 24 with the home team/higher seeds mostly holding serve.
South Medford was one of the road teams to pick up a win, sweeping Franklin up in Portland. The other road winner was McNary taking down North Medford in five.
Lake Oswego swept McDaniel, Sunset swept Roosevelt, Sherwood swept Tualatin, West Salem swept Ida B. Wells, Barlow swept Newberg and Lakeridge beat Clackamas in five.
Sandy took out Centennial to close out the Northwest Oregon Conference schedule in 5A, and earned the tiebreaker from the league to win the title.
Wilsonville closed the season with a 3-1 win over La Salle Prep to secure the title in the new Greater Metro Conference.
Small schools all completed their district tournaments as well with a couple notable results, starting in 2A where Imbler upset Crane for the Wapiti League district tournament title. The Mustangs won the two regular season matchups, but the Panthers got revenge in a 3-1 win.
In the Tri-River Conference, Regis walked away as district champions after finishing a game behind St. Paul in the regular season. The two sides split their regular season matchups, but a loss to Western Christian spoiled the Rams’ run. That was until they took down the Buckaroos in five to take the district crown.
In 3A, there were no surprise winners, but Dayton did take full control of the West Valley League with a 3-1 win over Santiam Christian in the district final. The two sides split their league matchups and came in tied at 7-1 in league.
In 1A, Open Door Christian pulled possibly the biggest stunner of the district tournaments when it swept Damascus Christian. The Eagles were 10-0 and swept the Huskies in both of their league meetings earlier this season.
In a battle between the No. 1-ranked Central Christian and the No. 3 North Lake, the Tigers came out on top once again 3-1. Central Christian won the two regular season matchups 3-1 and 3-0.
Looking at the state brackets, Burns earned the No. 1 seed in 3A followed by Dayton at No. 2, and both teams will receive a bye in the new 14-team bracket.
In 2A, Heppner is No. 1 in the 22-team bracket and gets a bye. No. 2 Imbler, No. 3 Myrtle Point, No. 4 Crane, No. 5 Weston-McEwen and No. 6 Clatskanie all receive byes as well.
And Central Christian is No. 1 in 1A and gets a bye in the 28-team bracket. No. 2 Dufur, No. 3 Sherman and No. 4 North Lake all advance to the second round as well with a bye.
Brackets for 5A and 4A are also out and Crescent Valley earned the No. 1 seed in 5A with an impressive 25-1 overall record. Bend is No. 2, Summit is No. 3 and South Albany is No. 4.
The top seed in 4A goes to 26-2 Valley Catholic, who moved to 4A this year from 3A. Marist Catholic checks in as the No. 2 seed, Stayton is No. 3 and The Dalles is No. 4.
Finally, 6A’s top eight teams all received byes and are awaiting opponents. Three-time defending champion Jesuit is back as the No. 1, followed by Sprague at No. 2, South Salem at No. 3, Grant at No. 4, Westview at No. 5, Central Catholic at No. 6, Lincoln at No. 7 and Oregon City at No. 8.
austinw@osaa.org
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