BY TANNER RUSS
FOREST GROVE — Sprague volleyball claimed 6A’s biggest title with an OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union state championship on Saturday, Nov. 7 at Forest Grove High School. The Olympians downed Westview 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-12) to claim the title, the program's first. Westview was denied its first title in the process.
The run Sprague finished at the state tournament was a redemptive one. In the quarterfinals, Sprague defeated Sheldon for the third time this season; in the semifinals, it defeated South Salem 3-0 after dropping its two league matches in the regular season; and in the finals, it got over the finish line after falling to Jesuit in the championship game last season.
For Sprague head coach Anne Olsen, the win was significant, and not just because it was the school’s first volleyball trophy. Sprague’s win marks the first time a 6A school out of the Salem-Keizer area has reached the top of the mountain.
“I think it’s a little bit of both (monkey off the back and new high-water mark),” Olsen said. “I gave my dad a hug and he said, ‘What are you going to do next?’ So, it’s just, now we look to next season. It’s literally that. We look to next season, we evaluate what we have and try to go as far as we can next year. We just need to keep pushing year in and year out so we can be one of the most dominant schools in Salem and the state of Oregon.”
For Westview, there was a similar trajectory going into the title game. After dispatching PIL champs Grant in the quarterfinals, Westview got revenge over Jesuit in the semifinals to reach the championship game. While Sprague proved to be too much, Westview's appearance in the title game marked a new high mark for the school, according to head coach Janelle Bryant.
“We got the first win, stayed on the winner’s bracket, we got another win against Jesuit and that was phenomenal, we got second place and that’s school history for Westview,” Bryant said. “The highest they’ve ever finished was 25 years ago and they took home a fourth-place trophy. I’m so proud. It hurts, we’re sad, I’m disappointed and heartbroken, and really proud for the Sprague Olympians because I think they should have won last year, and I’m happy that they were the team to beat us, and it was a true public school state championship.”
In the opening set, both teams competed well, but Sprague took the early advantage. The Olympians and Wildcats were knotted up at 4-4 before the southern Salem squad began to create a little space for themselves. Kills from Sprague senior Brooke Friesen, senior Khloe Livingston and sophomore Liana Paul gave Sprague a 12-7 advantage. That five-point differential prompted a Westview timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Westview went on a 10-5 run to knot things up to 17 all, but they would not assume control of the scoreboard. Sprague continued to create space thanks to kills from Friesen, and freshman Mina Hoda eventually put Sprague over the line 25-19. The Olympians led 1-0.
According to Olsen, the start was just what she expected of her team.
“The girls had one goal in mind, and the goal was to come in, lock in and play as hard as we can and not waste time,” Olsen said. “Our goal was to sweep them, and we had to come in and fight to the death, essentially.”
In the second set, Westview actually led for a considerable portion of the stanza. After wrestling the lead away from Sprague early and breaking ties up until 9-9, Westview trailed briefly before getting the lead back at 16-14. But Sprague once again took over, leading 20-16 after a run. Westview would tie things up at 20-20, but a 5-1 run for the Olympians sealed the set 25-21. Sprague was one set away from victory.
Unlike the previous two sets, Sprague came out and immediately seized control of the frame. The Olympians raced out to an 11-5 lead and never looked back. Westview couldn’t find its footing and was unable to connect with its offensive senior leadership in Abbey Meier and Ashlyn Pedersen at the net. Sprague won the final set 25-12. The Olympians didn’t drop a single set in four playoff games.
For Olsen, Sprague’s ability to limit the potent Westview hitters was a testament to the team’s preparedness and willingness to buy in.
“They are great, talented, (and) when they are firing on all cylinders, they are doing a great job” Olsen said. “Our girls did a great job of shutting them down. We served tough, it took them out of system, they weren’t able to run their middles as much as they usually do. So, they were scrambling and that was our gameplan, to keep them out of system so they couldn’t use their middles. Their middles are dang good middles and they’re good hitters. You don’t find a lot of teams with middles like that. We knew we had to shut them and take care of business on our side of the court.”
Sprague finished its season atop the hill of 6A competitors with a 24-5 record. Westview finished its season 23-10 overall.
Olsen plans to savor the victory until around January and then turn her attention to the 2027 season and try to reload.
For Westview’s Bryant, while the result was disappointing, bringing home a second-place trophy for the Wildcats ultimately exceeded the early season expectations she had for the squad.
“That’s disappointing as a head coach to see your team underperform, but I’m proud of how far we came, and we exceeded my expectations of the season,” Bryant said. “If you would have talked to me back in August, I would have not told you we were going to finish the season second in state.”
Other Tournament Results
South Salem defeated Jesuit 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19) to claim third place, while the Crusaders were forced to settle for fifth place. South Eugene defeated Sheldon 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-19) in the fourth-sixth place game. The Axe defeated Grant 3-1 (25-15, 25-19, 26-28, 25-23) to reach the placement game. Sheldon meanwhile swept Central Catholic 3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 28-26) to reach the fourth-sixth place game.
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