Oregon high school volleyball playoffs: Highlights from Day 1; vote for Wednesday's top star
By René Ferrán
The Oregon high school volleyball playoffs opened Wednesday with first-round action in 6A, 3A and 1A. Here are some of the highlights and top performers from the first night of matches.
Don't see any details for your team's match? Email some notes and/or stats to rferran.scorebooklive@gmail.com.
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CLASS 6A
Roseburg 3, Mountainside 0
Kennedy Baylis Hines and Caroline Knudson starred at the net as 10th-seeded Roseburg earned its first OSAA Class 6A playoff win since 2017 with a 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 home win over Mountainside.
Baylis Hines had 12 kills, nine digs and two blocks, and Knudson dominated the middle with nine blocks for Roseburg (17-5), which travels to No. 7 Sherwood (19-4) on Saturday seeking its first main-site tournament appearance since 2015. The Bowmen defeated Barlow 25-20, 18-25, 25-16, 25-13.
“Both our outsides, Kennedy and Emma (Fairbairn, 11 kills, two blocks), were on point with their finishes, and Caroline was a monster blocker tonight,” coach Lacy Pinard said. “This really gave us momentum and inspiration to keep up our energy. I’m very pleased with our first match, and we have lots of work before Saturday.”
Setter Hayden Pinard had a strong all-around match with 35 assists, 11 digs, five aces, four kills and four blocks, while Mikyla Cunningham added five kills and three blocks and libero Kinsey Brelage had 13 digs and three aces.
Sherwood 3, Barlow 1
Emily Fulton had a match-high 14 kills, and Sidney Knowles “led the back row with some amazing digs,” according to Bowmen coach Jenette Brotnov, with the senior libero posting a 2.35 serve receive rating in a 25-20, 18-25, 25-16, 25-13 home victory.
South Salem 3, Sunset 2
Kayleigh Carpenter’s back-to-back kills closed out the match after No. 16 South Salem (11-10) staved off a match point in a 21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 16-14 home victory over Sunset (13-9).
Avery Horne had four blocks and Rowan Saadat had three in the fourth set alone, while Lauren Patterson had 10 digs and Sara Davies five kills to help the Apollos tie the match.
Davies then had a kill and an ace to tie the fifth set at 11-11.
Carpenter led the Saxons with 24 kills and three aces. Brooksie Isham added 21 kills, Mackenzie Scott had 25 digs and Kamree Orizotti dished out 34 assists.
West Linn 3, Sandy 1
Amyah Semau and Addie Hoover had 20 kills apiece, and No. 12 West Linn (17-9) continued defense of its state title with a 25-14, 19-25, 25-17, 27-25 home win over Sandy.
Taylor Bell had 19 digs for the Lions, while Hoover (16 digs, .229 hitting) and Semau (11 digs, .280 hitting, 2.0 passing rating) also chipped in defensively.
Grant 3, Lakeridge 2
No. 20 seed Grant (16-5) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to become the lowest seed to win in Round 1, knocking off Lakeridge 20-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-20, 15-13 in Lake Oswego.
Sophomore Maggie McCarthy had a big night for the Generals, finishing with 16 kills, 19 assists and 17 digs. Another sophomore, middle blocker Anneliese Roesinger, had nine blocks and eight kills, while junior Rachel Peterson added 13 kills, 22 digs, three aces and a 2.2 serve receive rating. Libero Elise Coffey had 31 digs and a 2.1 serve receive rating.
Oregon City 3, North Medford 1
Brooke Williams had 13 kills while hitting .524 and fellow middle blocker Olivia Adamo had 12 kills (.550 hitting) as No. 4 seed Oregon City (23-3) survived a third-set hiccup to defeat visiting North Medford 25-11, 25-13, 21-25, 15-12.
Paige Thies shared match-high honors with 13 kills and five aces for the Pioneers, while setter Bella Bone added 21 assists, five aces and five digs. The Pioneers hit .349 as a team and served 15 aces (.980 percentage).
Sheldon 3, Glencoe 0
The third-seeded Irish (25-5) got 13 kills from Gwen Fife and a solid all-around night from Beaux Bruegman (nine kills, five aces, nine digs, 15 assists) in a 25-13, 25-18, 25-18 home win over Glencoe.
Kaitlyn Wood had eight kills, Elle Bruegman added 11 digs, and Alyssa Lewey handed out 18 assists for Sheldon, which plays host to St. Mary’s Academy on Saturday.
Central Catholic 3, West Salem 0
Mia Starr went 23 for 23 serving, including a five-point run in the first set and an eight-point run in the second, and had eight aces in the Rams’ 25-12, 25-10, 25-16 first-round win in Southeast Portland.
Sofia Cooper led Central Catholic (18-9) with 14 kills, while freshman Reese Kincaid added nine.
Wells 3, Forest Grove 0
PIL champion Wells (20-5) got big performances from juniors Zoe Mish and Carly Straub to sweep Forest Grove 25-20, 25-19, 25-23 in Southwest Portland. Senior setter Eleanor Pigg led the Guardians in assists, while senior Kate Rodgers led them in digs and service aces.
South Medford 3, Liberty 0
Katie Clevenger dominated at the net with 22 kills to go with seven aces and six digs, while Baylee Davis had 41 assists and four aces as the No. 6 Panthers (22-6) advanced with a 25-11, 25-10, 25-13 home win — their first playoff win since 2004.
“Eighteen years is a long time,” said coach Robin Akpan. “I am very proud of our group.”
Lola Horton chipped in seven kills and two blocks for South Medford, which plays host to Central Catholic on Saturday looking to avenge last year’s first-round loss to the Rams and advance to the main site for the first time in program history.
Nelson 3, South Eugene 0
Avia Tuguldur had eight kills and eight digs, Ellie Jung made 12 digs and Kirsten Pangburn had four aces and seven digs for South Eugene (9-13), which lost at No. 5 seed Nelson 25-15, 25-19, 25-16.
The Hawks (25-3) play host to defending state champion West Linn on Saturday, with the winner advancing to the tournament main site at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.
Sprague 3, Lake Oswego 0
Sidney Friesen had 13 kills, nine digs and five aces, and Sarah Jones made 18 digs and served three aces in No. 9 Sprague’s 25-9, 25-18, 25-12 home win over Lake Oswego. Evie Morrissette handed out 16 assists for the Olympians (21-8).
Westview 3, Lincoln 0
Alize Bakker had a match-high 13 kills and six digs while passing 2.29 on serve receive, and Kaytlyn Lebeck added eight kills and two digs as No. 2 Westview (24-4) advanced with a 25-18, 25-12, 25-6 win in Northwest Portland.
Taylor Guerra had a solid all-around night with 22 assists, nine digs, five kills and four aces, while libero Kennedy Cheung had 17 digs and six assists for the Wildcats, who play PIL champion Wells for a spot in the quarterfinals Saturday.
Jesuit 3, Gresham 0
The top-seeded Crusaders improved to 30-0 with a 25-17, 25-15, 25-12 home victory over Gresham to begin their pursuit of a sixth state championship in the past 10 tournaments.
Isabel Patterson led Jesuit with 10 kills (.375 hitting), eight digs and two blocks, while CeAnna O’Loughlin added 10 kills (.333 hitting) and passed at a 2.21 rate. Setters Jackie Carle and Hayden McGehee combined for 34 assists, and Addie Azavedo had seven digs and three aces.
Other first-round winners were McNary (3-0 over McDaniel, making its first playoff appearance since 2009) and St. Mary’s Academy (3-1 over Newberg).
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CLASS 3A
Westside Christian 3, Dayton 1
Senior Gabby Thorn had 12 kills, nine digs and six aces, and freshman setter Ella Perry had 46 assists, 12 digs and six aces to lead Westside Christian (12-8) to its first playoff victory since 2016, winning at home 25-13, 25-15, 28-30, 25-16.
Jeryn Hildenbrand had a match-high 14 kills, four aces and eight digs for Westside, while Paige Lindsey and Sam Shepard had eight kills each. “It really was a collective effort for us,” said coach Kristina Thorn.
Cascade Christian 3, Nyssa 0
Madison Todd had 17 kills, Claire Knips added nine, and Sydney Shipman served six aces as the Challengers (17-9) reached Round 2 with a 25-12, 25-16, 25-15 home win.
Other first-round winners were Banks (3-0 over Douglas) and Siuslaw (3-1 over Vale).
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CLASS 1A
Echo 3, Crosshill Christian 0
Navaeh Thew had a match-high nine kills, six assists and three digs, and Lily Wallis added five kills, nine assists and seven aces — several coming during a decisive 10-point streak to end the second set as Echo (15-8) won at home, 25-22, 25-10, 25-11.
Jaki Bartoshek had four kills for the Cougars, and Morgan Hendrix broke open the third set with a 10-point streak to build an 18-7 lead.
Freshman Ellie Bartel led Crosshill Christian (14-7) with 13 digs and four kills. Freshman Ryland Minnick added 10 digs, and Sierra Poush served three aces.
Joseph 3, Trinity Lutheran 1
The No. 21-seeded Eagles (15-13) rallied in the fourth set to complete their comeback, becoming the lowest seed to win in Round 1 with a 25-16, 17-25, 25-18, 25-22 road win at Trinity Lutheran (15-9).
“The first set, our offense was strong, but then in set 2, we relaxed too much, and Trinity has strong servers and they played well,” Joseph coach Jill Hite said. “But we came back in set 3.”
Damascus Christian 3, Alsea 0
Senior Abbigayle Bailey had 10 kills with no errors in 15 swings to go with 10 assists and two aces, and Sierra Hale added six aces, eight kills and 16 assists as top seed Damascus Christian (32-0) breezed to a 25-9, 25-3, 25-10 first-round home win.
“It was fun to kick off the bracket of 32 at home,” said coach Emily Russau, who missed the match at home with her newborn baby while assistant Ashley Briggs led the team. “All 12 girls played in the match, and it gave us a chance to work different players in at different positions.”
Rogue Valley Adventist 3, Jordan Valley 0
Senior Emma Bischoff’s big night (17 kills, four blocks, nine digs, six aces) powered No. 5 seed Rogue Valley Adventist (21-1) to a 25-17, 25-17, 25-18 first-round victory.
Michaela Porter added nine kills, seven digs and two aces, and Destinee Quattrocelli handed out 15 assists to go with nine digs and four kills.
North Clackamas Christian 3, Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler 0
Jozee Jacobs had 10 digs and four blocks, Teagan Towell added nine digs and three blocks, and Morgan Cole-Hand had eight digs in a losing effort as Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler lost at North Clackamas Christian 25-7, 25-12, 25-11.
St. Paul 3, Triangle Lake 0
Mer Coleman had eight kills and five aces, Gracie Koch handed out 24 assists, and the third-seeded Buckaroos (25-5) overcame a solid night from Lakers libero Nallela Mather to advance with a 25-14, 25-13, 25-14 home win.
Adrian 3, Myrtle Point 0
Addy Martin had 16 kills and 10 digs, and Presley Speelmon dished out 27 assists to lead the 13th-seeded Antelopes (13-8) to the first-round home win, 25-22, 25-16, 25-18.
Open Door Christian 3, Imbler 2
Rachael Stirewalt had 14 kills and was 19-for-19 serving with two aces, and libero Aylssa Jennings had 15 digs, 23 serve receptions and was 11-for-11 serving, but it wasn’t enough for Imbler in a five-set road loss, 25-15, 12-25, 17-25, 25-22, 15-12. The Panthers fell behind 9-1 in the fifth set before rallying to within 14-12.
North Douglas 3, Lost River 0
Defending champion North Douglas (22-10) advanced to the second round with a 25-14, 25-9, 25-2 home win. Grace McCollam had nine digs for Lost River.
Crane 3, Willamette Valley Christian 0
Leslie Doman had 27 assists and six aces, and Kortney Doman had a match-high 13 kills and a 2.9 passing average as No. 2 Crane (24-4) advanced with a 25-9, 25-15, 25-6 home victory. “We were able to go on a long run at the end of each set and finish out efficiently,” said Mustangs coach Maddye Wester.
Other first-round winners were Days Creek (3-1 over Mohawk), Umpqua Valley Christian (3-1 over Eddyville), Central Christian (3-2 over Ione/Arlington), South Wasco County (3-0 over Southwest Christian), Powder Valley (3-0 over Perrydale), and Prairie City (3-1 over Sherman County).
Other first-round winners were top seed Damascus Christian (3-0 over Alsea), Days Creek (3-1 over Mohawk), Open Door Christian (3-2 over Imbler), Umpqua Valley Christian (3-1 over Eddyville), North Clackamas Christian (3-0 over Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler), St. Paul (3-0 over Triangle Lake), Central Christian (3-2 over Ione/Arlington), South Wasco County (3-0 over Southwest Christian), Powder Valley (3-0 over Perrydale), Prairie City (3-1 over Sherman County) and Crane (3-0 over Willamette Valley Christian).
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