Hood River Valley’s volleyball team recovered nicely from a 0-3 start — including some off-court distractions — with wins in two of its past three matches heading into this week’s showdown at fourth-ranked La Salle Prep.
Hood River (2-4 overall) has a mixed bag of results in its new conference, the Northwest Oregon. The Eagles were shut out in their first two league matches but won a five-set match Sept. 8 at Parkrose and earned a three-set sweep of Milwaukie on Sept. 15. In between the wins was a 25-7, 25-17, 25-12 loss to Wilsonville, the top-ranked Class 5A team. All three matches were on the road, as are HRV’s next two matches Thursday at La Salle (Milwaukie) and Sept. 28 at Canby.
The Eagles welcomed back long-time Coach Scott Walker to the sideline a couple of weeks into the season. Walker is serving as the varsity coach while former head coach Molly Kissinger (hired in mid-August) is overseeing the entire program and serving as the JVII coach. Another assistant coach has been ill, Walker noted.
Walker, who coached HRV to three state tourney appearances from 2015 through 2018, said: “We’re learning how to play together. We’re still trying to figure out what our ideal lineup is going to be.
“We actually had a pretty good match (against Parkrose).”
Walker referred specifically to a sequence of events in that five-set victory which he used as a coaching moment for his young team. Junior athletic middle blocker Marina Castaneda was visibly frustrated with her serving during the match, Walker said, but later came up big when it counted — from the service line.
HRV trailed most of the match, falling behind two sets — both 25-21 losses — before rallying. In the fifth and deciding set, the Eagles trailed 14-12 and fought off two match points. A kill shot by frosh Emily Doss gave Hood River offensive possession and Castaneda served three points in a row for the win, 16-14.
The Eagles spread out the offensive stats in the win: Abby Kelly was the top passer; Ryann Rosselle served six aces; Mallory McNerney had 10 kills and 12 digs; and setter Megan Griggs had 15 assists.
The win came a little easier against winless Milwaukie, as HRV won 25-14, 26-24 and 25-20. On the flip side, against Wilsonville (9-0), the Eagles faced a team with plenty of talent. Setter Cammy Gore and opposite Ellis Underhill are skilled at putting the ball in the right place for the Wildcat hitters. They include 5-foot-11 senior Makenna Wiepert, who may be the best setter of the bunch (she plays that position for her club team, Athena Volleyball Academy).
“They were definitely (worth their ranking),” Walker said.
The Eagles will get a look at another top player from Oregon when they travel to Milwaukie this week to play No. 4 La Salle (7-1, with its lone loss to Wilsonville). Falcon middle blocker Olivia Maulding (a 6-foot-2 club teammate of Wiepert’s) has signed to play next season at University of Notre Dame. Maulding is complimented up front by 6-2 junior Hailey Heytvelt.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.