Kiana Chambers
Josephine Beck
Unbeaten La Center and Gorge rival Stevenson ended Columbia High’s feint volleyball playoffs hopes last week, with Trico League wins over the Bruins.
La Center, Washington’s second ranked Class 1A team, won in straight sets - 25-21, 25-12, 25-20 – over Columbia on Oct. 17. Two days later, host Stevenson topped the Bruins, 3-1.
Columbia, 0-8 in Trico play, needed a sweep in its final four matches to qualify for the district playoffs. Despite the results, “We’re still trying to have a good time at practice with a fun group of girls,” Columbia Coach Heidi Shultz said.
Unbeaten La Center, now 16-0 this season (8-0 Trico) was led by Billie Ross, who had 10 kills, two blocks and 12 digs. “Billie, she does a really good job of hitting around blocks and putting it anywhere she wants,” Shultz said. “She’s a pretty talented hitter.”
Columbia was led in hitting by senior Claire Hayes and senior Jessica Polkinghorn, who had six and four kills, respectively. Polkinghorn also was the leading server for the Bruins.
Columbia was playing its first league match without defensive specialist, senior Juliet Perez, who suffered a concussion two weeks ago. Kiana Chambers added three kills for the Burins, and teammate Sara Miller added two.
Columbia played Stevenson close in the four-set match. The Bulldogs took the first set, 25-18, before Columbia rallied in the second behind the play of Chambers.
“Kiana, she had a really good night serving; she served us 10 points and got us back in that game that we won,” Shultz said of the Bruins’ 26-24 second set victory. “She had three kills and no (hitting) errors.”
Hayes added a season-high 11 kills in the Stevenson match; Miller added eight and Polkinghorn five.
“Our hitters are doing better, making fewer errors,” Shultz said. “They have improved a lot.”
Junior Josie Dickey had 25 digs from her back-row spot for Columbia.
Olivia Fauth led Stevenson with 17 kills and 14 digs. Samia Rudd was 18 for 19 serving for the Bulldogs, who won the third and fourth sets, 25-18 and 25-23.
The Bruins were scheduled to host King’s Way, the No. 5-ranked team in WIAA (as of last week) on Oct. 24 (senior night). “We’ll honor our six seniors and hopefully we’ll play as we did when we went to King’s Way,” Shultz said of the 15-25, 25-17, 19-25, 10-25 result the first half of league play against the Knights.
Columbia finishes its 2023 season with a match at Seton Catholic on Oct. 26.
Information from the News and our advertisers (Want to add your business to this to this feed?)
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sign up to receive notifications when a new Columbia Gorge News e-Edition is published.
Would you like to receive our news updates? Signup today!
Receive weekly updates on obituaries and death notices.
Oregon Capital Press presented by Columbia Gorge News
Receive updates on upcoming promotions and special sections.
Receive weekly updates on local sports news.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
Commented