The Hood River Valley High Eagles were looking to conclude their 2023 OSAA Class 5A Northwest Oregon Conference volleyball season the same way that they started — with two wins.
The Eagles, guided by first-year Coach Susie Preston, competed in their final home game of the season on a festive senior night, which was capped by a 3-1 win over Milwaukie on Oct. 19.
“This was a huge win; all the girls played a great game and our seniors really wanted this win,” Preston said. “Adamari Lazaro hasn’t had a lot of playing time this season, but she played two full sets against Milwaukie, and she did a really great job. Abby Kelly had a great game and Aspen Fridley had a great game, too. … Our setter Ryann Roselle came out and played very well, and she really put up some good balls.”
Eagle seniors Roselle, Kelly, Marina Castaneda, Lazaro, and Megan Griggs were accompanied by their parents and honored for their contributions to the Eagle volley program in a special pregame ceremony.
“Everyone worked together as a team; they fought through everything, and they just never gave up. We kind of knew what to expect and we knew that we didn’t have a good performance against them [Mustangs] the last time we played at their place [a 3-1 loss Sept. 19]. We’ve had few losses throughout the season that should’ve been wins and that was one of them.”
The Eagles (6-9 NWOC, 7-17 overall) were scheduled to end their season on Oct. 24 at Hillsboro (1-14 NWOC, 3-24 overall).
Hood River’s win over Milwaukie (7-9 NWOC, 12-11 overall) snapped a four-game losing streak, which included a 3-0 loss to La Salle Prep (14-1 NWOC, 18-7 overall) on Oct. 17 in Milwaukie.
Hood River and Milwaukie split the first two sets, with the Mustangs coming back from a 12-7 deficit in the second set. In set 3, Castaneda served two aces to help the Eagles build an early 6-3 advantage. The Mustangs came back with a 6-2 run to take a 9-8 lead and force an Eagle timeout. The Eagles responded with a 12-3 rally that included kills by Castaneda and Aspen Fridley, and a Roselle ace to help HRV take a 20-12 lead enroute to a 25-17 win.
In a close set 4 that was tied at 15-15, the Mustangs went on top 19-16 with a 4-1 run. The Eagles responded in kind, tying it 20-20. Two more deadlocks followed, with the final one at 22-22. A Kelly kill was followed by a Mustang hitting error gave the Eagles game point at 24-22. Kelly then pounded a game-winning kill for the victory.
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