The Dalles sophomore Zoe LeBreton (7) handles a serve from Hood River as sophomore Kaleyah Crichton-Tunai provides backup during a league match Oct. 21 in The Dalles.
Hood River sophomore Ryann Rosselle (12) makes a set during a league match Oct. 21 in The Dalles.
Mark B. Gibson photo
The Dalles sophomore Zoe LeBreton (7) handles a serve from Hood River as sophomore Kaleyah Crichton-Tunai provides backup during a league match Oct. 21 in The Dalles.
Hood River junior Casey Beaman (6) slams a shot past The Dalles junior Kennedy Abbas (12) during a league match Oct. 21 in The Dalles.
Mark B. Gibson photo
The Intermountain Conference Class 5A volleyball season concluded with Gorge rivals The Dalles High Riverhawks and the Hood River Valley Eagles meeting for the second time Oct. 21. School pride and bragging rights were at stake because both teams were out of playoff contention and at the bottom of the six-team IMC standings.
The Eagles (1-9 IMC, 6-13 overall), guided by second-year head coach Courtney Harvey, snapped a nine-game IMC losing streak with a 25-22, 14-25, 25-20, 26-24 win over the host Hawks (2-8 IMC, 7-11 overall) on senior night at the Wahtonka campus. The Dalles’ lone senior, Delaney Bailey, was honored in a pregame ceremony.
“We’ve had so many girls injured or sick recently and luckily everyone was able to finally all come together and play in the last game,” said Harvey. “It’s been a trying season for sure, but they were all glad that we were able to be successful in that game. It seems like we were missing a multiple number of girls almost every week because of either an injury or illness.
“I would say that this was definitely a frustrating year because I was really hoping that our four seniors (Reese Leiblein, Emma Kroll, Lauren Spontaner, Kayla Sheasby) could enjoy some success in their final season of Hood River Valley High School volleyball.”
Those seniors certainly helped lead the Eagles to the victory, as Leiblein had a team-high seven kills, Spontaner had four kills, Kroll had four kills and nine digs and Sheasby had team-high 17 digs and four aces. Junior Mallory McNerney had three kills and sophomore Marina Castenada had five kills. Sophomore Ryann Rosselle had 13 assists and four digs. Sophomore Teigan Slatt had a team-high 17 assist.
Three of the four sets were very close, and the Hawks had momentum going their way in the second set while getting a double digit 25-14 win, knotting the match, 1-1. The Eagles then took control with a solid effort in winning the next two sets for the victory. The teams split the series as The Dalles won 3-1 Sept. 30 at Hood River.
“Everyone cried at the end of the game, and I was crying at multiple times during the game, because I felt so proud of the seniors,” said Harvey. “I love these girls so much and I’ve coached them since they were age 12. It just felt very refreshing to see them get a win in their final game. In the last set, the younger girls wanted me to leave the seniors in the game instead of rotating them out. So that’s what we did, and it was great to get the win.”
This season could probably best be described as difficult for both teams. Less than a week before its final match, Hood River was scheduled to play in a tournament Oct. 16 at Mountain View High School in Vancouver, WA. However, the Eagles had a number of injuries that sidelined players and then had some players get sick, leaving Harvey with only four available. Hood River was forced to cancel as one of the tournament participants. Thursday’s matchup in The Dalles was actually the first time the entire 12-member Eagle team was able to play together in more than a month.
“This is a great group of girls and I’m so happy that they all got to enjoy the end of their season,” Harvey said. “I’ve been coaching now for 10 years, and I know that this was really one of those games that I’ll never forget.”
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