NORTH BEND — Last year both Valley Catholic and Marist Catholic won state volleyball titles in Oregon’s Bay Area.
This year they are fighting for the same blue trophy at the OSAA/On-Point Community Credit Union 4A state championships after Valley Catholic moved up from 3A this fall.
Valley Catholic swept The Dalles 25-17, 25-15, 25-17 in its semifinal match and Marist Catholic swept Astoria 25-15, 25-18, 25-12 to set up the championship match at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at North Bend High School.
“We did it,” Valley Catholic coach Becky Kemper said of the Valiants returning to the championship match after winning the past two 3A titles. “All year we have goals written on our white board. We’ve done a lot of check, check, check.”
The Valiants won the Cowapa League title. Then they won their first playoff game to get to the state tournament.
“Then we made it through two good teams,” Kemper said.
Valley Catholic started the day with a straight-sets win over Pendleton that Kemper said was more challenging than the scores might suggest. The Valiants rolled past the Buckaroos 25-8 in the first set before taking the other two by matching 25-19 scores.
“We kind of got the nerves out this morning,” Kemper said. “Pendleton played really well (the last two sets). They didn’t make a lot of mistakes.”
And that’s what Valley Catholic did against The Dalles, a squad coming off a roller-coaster five-set win over Cascade Christian in its quarterfinal match.
Kemper said her squad played well in every aspect of the game — serving, serve receive, passing, setting and offense.
“Our defense was phenomenal,” she said. “And that got us into our setters and hitters.”
Valley Catholic’s athletic middle blocker Maeve Albert soared high for a number of powerful kills, but she had a lot of company on offense. Outside hitters Hadley Entizne and Sara Tinker also had big matches.
Kemper said things have really clicked for Tinker the past few weeks. Entizne, meanwhile, has always been steady and had 18 kills in last year’s championship-match win over Westside Christian.
“She’s not very tall,” Kemper noted. “She has great volleyball IQ.”
Emma Sarantakos also had several kills as Valley Catholic spread the offense around.
As for Valley Catholic’s libero, Gabi Velasco, Kemper said she “was on fire.”
The Valiants’ front-line and back-row defense was important against a Riverhawks squad with its own powerful attack led by all-state outside hitter Jazzy Morris-Holmes and middle blocker Evelyn Rogers.
They had their moments for The Dalles, but as a whole the Riverhawks never really got going.
“We have not played our best volleyball today,” said Teresa Morris, the coach for the Riverhawks. “We missed a ton of serves.”
She added that as a whole she thought the Riverhawks played timid against Valley Catholic, much as they did in last year’s championship-match loss to Marist Catholic.
The Dalles was playing from early deficits in the first two sets against the Valiants. The Riverhawks battled, but their effort wasn’t enough with the Valiants playing so well.
“They play very clean volleyball,” Morris said. “They’re very aggressive. They’re a good, solid team.”
Valley Catholic surged to an 11-2 lead in the first set. The Riverhawks clawed back to within 13-10 on a kill by Morris-Holmes, but the Valiants pulled away again, ultimately clinching the set on back-to-back kills by Entizne.
The second set featured another quick start for Valley Catholic. Albert’s third kill of the set gave the Valiants an 8-2 lead. The Dalles pulled within 9-7 on an ace by Makenna Liberidhs but Valley Catholic had another big run featuring kills by Entizne, Tinker, Sarantkos and Allison Jacobs. Every time The Dalles stopped a rally the Valiants quickly got momentum back and Entizne again ended the set with back-to-back kills, the latter a well-placed shot to the corner.
The third set was closer, with Morris-Holmes having two early kills and back-to-back aces for an 8-6 lead for the Riverhawks.
Valley Catholic setter Jaya McGregor ended the run with a surprise attack and the Valiants quickly moved in front.
The Dalles stayed close with offense from Morris-Holmes, Rogers and Aspyn Rubio and pulled within 19-17 on a net violation by the Valiants, but Valley Catholic scored the last six points to close out the match.
The Valiants celebrated and looked ahead to the championship match.
“I’m very excited,” Kemper said.
Meanwhile, Morris was trying to motivate her squad to stay positive after coming up short of the championship match.
It’s the third straight year The Dalles will take a trophy home from the Bay Area after a long trophy drought.
“Only eight teams get here,” Morris said. “For us to get back here for three years in a row and place three years in a row is an accomplishment for our school and team.”
The Dalles meets Astoria in the third-place match at 1 p.m.
Astoria ran into a buzz saw in the Spartans. Like Valley Catholic, Marist Catholic was good in all phases of the game in the semifinals.
“We have a lot of offense,” Marist Catholic coach Sheri Pimental said. “Our defense did pretty well.”
The Spartans are led by three seniors who will be playing in their fourth championship match — a first in Pimental’s 34 years as head coach. Lauren Rohman, who doubles as a right side hitter and setter, depending on where she is in the rotation, and outside hitter Kimmy Spurlock and setter Anna Edwards all were key players on teams that won two titles and lost a third.
They are joined by teammates who also have a lot of experience over the past few tournaments.
“They’re extremely talented and they don’t have any holes in the lineup,” Astoria coach Eric Gohr said after his team fell to the Spartans. “Teams like Marist, you can play with them for four or six points, but then they go on runs.”
That’s what happened in all three sets in the semifinals.
Astoria got off to a quick start in the first set behind a pair of kills by Kyah Gohr and a Marist Catholic hitting error.
But Rohman and middle hitter Maxine Holland-Bak got things going for Marist and seemingly immediately the Spartans were up 9-5. The lead only ballooned from there as Spurlock got in on the act, too and Kate Forsyth had an ace.
The second set was more of the same as Marist Catholic’s defense stymied the Fishermen either by getting blocks at the net or digging up almost every attack.
“What we love about this team is we don’t exactly need to tell them what to do (on defense),” Pimental said, explaining the Spartans knew they had to contain Henley’s Makayla Schroeder in their first match of the day and Kyah Gohr in the semifinals.
The Spartans led 20-11 after kills by Colbie Cummings and Maggie Helfrich before a brief run pulled Astoria with 22-18. But Marist Catholic quickly scored the final three points, capped by an ace by Rohman.
In the third set Astoria found some success going away from Kyah Gohr. Emma Ness had four early kills and Gohr added two more as the Fisherman stayed close, trailing just 10-9.
Then Marist Catholic took control with Spurlock leading the way with a couple big kills and the defense extending rallies until Astoria made mistakes. Rohman eventually ended the match with a kill that sent the Spartans into the championship match.
Pimental said Marist Catholic played better than it had in its earlier four-set win over Henley. She felt she needed to call timeout early in the third set, though.
“Our energy was off a little bit,” she said, adding that she didn’t want a repeat of last year when the Spartans won the first two sets against Astoria in the quarterfinals, only to be forced to a fifth set by the Fishermen.
Eric Gohr said his team played better in its quarterfinal win over Stayton.
“This morning we were able to take advantage of some experience we had from getting here last year,” he said. “We played exceptional defense.”
And though the Fishermen were denied a spot in the championship game, he was excited about Saturday’s match with the Riverhawks.
“Tomorrow is a good day for The Dalles and Astoria, two teams from similar communities playing for third place,” he said.
Already, Astoria overachieved by getting to the state tournament and reaching the semifinals after starting the year 0-4 and entering the playoffs as the No. 11 seed.
“We’ve gotten better every week,” he said.
Quarterfinals
Valley Catholic d. Pendleton 25-8, 25-19, 25-19: The Valiants made quick work of the Buckaroos in the first set and cruised to the victory to reach the semifinals.
Pendleton had a 13-match win streak snapped and meets Cascade Christian in the consolation semifinals at 9 a.m. Saturday, hoping to advance to the fourth-place match.
The Dalles d. Cascade Christian 25-23, 28-26, 17-25, 23-25, 16-14: The Riverhawks outlasted the Challengers in the match of the day.
The contest pitted the Riverhawks’ stellar attack of Morris-Holmes and Rogers against a balanced and deep Cascade Christian offense with middle blockers Hadley Wilcox and Kya Kleinsasser and hitters Morgan Maurer and Avery Hunter.
“It was a battle of two evenly matched teams,” Cascade Christian coach Rob Kleker said. “They just made plays at the end of the second and fifth sets.”
All but the third set were razor close. Ultimately, Morris-Holmes came up with a couple of big kills in the final set to push the Riverhawks into the semifinals.
Cascade Christian led 21-19 in the first set before a pair of aces by Katelyn Dewey. A net violation and hitting error helped set up set point, which came on a kill by Rogers.
The Dalles led 24-22 in the second set but a mis-handled return and back-to-back kills by Hunter gave Cascade Christian set point. The teams traded kills by Rogers and Kleinsasser again giving the Challengers set point, but they had a service error and an attack that went just long. Morris-Holmes ended the set with a kill through two blockers.”
“I wish we had been a little more clean at the end of the second set,” Kleker said.
The Dalles led 5-1 early in the third set but Cascade Christian battled back and took command, with Maurer, Kleinsasser, Wilcox and Hunter all providing big kills.
Cascade Christian led most of the way in the fourth set, but never by a wide margin. Kleinsasser had the clinching kill to send the match to the fifth set.
The teams traded points through most of the final set, the majority coming on kills by one side or the other. Cascade Christian led 11-9 after a kill by Hunter, but Morris-Holmes had two straight kills for the Riverhawks.
A few errors put The Dalles up 13-12, but Maurer tied it with a kill.
After Morris-Holmes had a kill off Cascade Christian’s blockers for a 14-13 lead, an attempting match-winning hit deflected off the net into an open spot in the Riverhawks’ back row.
But The Dalles put the match away with a kill by Rogers and then a soft hit by Morris-Holmes into an open spot in the Cascade Christian defense
Astoria d. Stayton, 25-15, 25-16, 25-19: The Fishermen dominated the Eagles to advance to the semifinals.
Astoria pulled away early in each set, behind a combination of its own offense and Stayton errors. Kyah Gohr started the final push with a kill and an ace. A kill by Keturah Jackson set up set point, another ace by Gohr.
It was more of the same as Astoria took an early 10-3 lead in the second set. It was 15-7 when Stayton finally got momentum, eventually pulling within 17-14 on a kill by Sofia Nygaard. But Astoria pulled away from there, clinching the set on an ace by Kilee Svensen.
Stayton was more competitive in the third set as the Eagles’ front line started getting a lot of touches on hits by the Fishermen. Stayton trailed 10-9 after one stretch with blocks on three straight Astoria attacks and tied the set at 13 on a kill by Kathryn Samek.
But Astoria scored seven points in a row and the closest the Eagles got after that was a 22-18 deficit, the momentum stopped by a kill from Ness. Two hitting errors on Stayton put Astoria in the semifinals.
Stayton faces Henley in the second consolation match at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Marist Catholic d. Henley, 25-14, 25-22, 20-25, 25-19: The Spartans fought off a tough challenge from the Hornets.
The Spartans used strong finishes in all three of their set wins after Henley kept them all close early.
Marist Catholic led 14-13 in the first set when Forsyth went on a six-point service run. After Henley finally stopped the streak Marist quickly finished the set off with a stretch that included two kills by Rohman and another by Helfrich.
Hailey Paulson had three aces in the second set for Henley, including one that gave the Hornets an 18-15 lead. But the Spartans battled back. Spurlock had a pair of kills, the Hornets had a few miscues, Edwards had an ace that rolled off the net onto Henley’s side of the court and Holland-Bak had a set-clinching kill.
But Henley battled back to take the third set with its own strong finish. The set was tied at 20 when Ryleigh McDaniel had a kill, a stuff block and a kill on consecutive points. After a back-row kill by Abby DuBose, the Hornets finished the set with an ace, in the process handing Marist Catholic a defeat in a set for the first time in a regular match since Sept. 3.
Henley led the fourth set 12-6 before Marist Catholic battled back, pulling even at 13 on a kill by Rohman. Henley had its final lead at 15-14 on an ace by Addie Lockrem. Marist Catholic went in front for good on a kill by Holland-Bak, followed by a hitting error by the Hornets, a kill by Rohman from the back row, a stuff block by Holland-Bak and a kill by Spurlock. The match ended when a hit by the Hornets went just wide.
“I thought we played well,” Henley coach Sierra Patszke said. “They were just firing on all cylinders over there.”
Pimental said she was worried about the matchup. Henley beat Marist Catholic in the season opener and won a playoff game at Junction City to get to the state tournament.
“They’re not a 10th-ranked team,” she said. “They’re a good team.
“That’s the first time we’ve seen adversity. We responded well.”
dorklefin2003@yahoo.com
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