Many significant things took place during the offseason for the Hood River Valley High Eagles volleyball team.
The Eagles welcomed new head Coach Molly Kissinger when they began preseason practice Aug. 15 with enough players for the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity squads. HRV lost four seniors from last year’s team to graduation, but they have a strong group of returning varsity players who will help lead the team this year, including the senior duo of Mallory McNerney and Jacy Johnston, and juniors Ryan Rosselle and Marina Castaneda.
“We had a great preseason program with a large number of girls showing up to play volleyball,” said Kissinger. “We have been led by a distinguished veteran volunteer Coach Scott Walker, who is committed to providing the student athletes with quality skills and competitive tactics. I am grateful to have his support and expertise, as well as Clinton LaTourrette’s commitment as a volunteer assistant coach. The program is very nurturing, and it is intended to help elevate Hood River Valley volleyball.”
Other seniors who will also provide the Eagles with leadership and more experience on the court include Jaiden Hernandez, Hailey Stuben and Margaret Scully. New varsity players this year also include sophomore Karyna Marquez along with freshmen Emily Doss, Nora Snyder, Aspen Fridley, and Abriela Lopez.
Along with a new coach and many new players, Hood River also moved into a new league. After being members of the Intermountain Conference for many years, the Eagles are now in the nine-team Northwest Oregon Conference.
“We’re excited about competing in the Northwest Oregon Conference,” said Kissinger. “The preseason practices were super productive. I truly think that our team is going to be highly competitive this year.”
The Eagles will now have much shorter road trips, since they’ll be traveling west to the Portland metro area for most of their games, instead of making the longer trips to Pendleton and schools in Central Oregon.
Last year, HRV struggled through Intermountain Conference play by winning one match. The Eagles beat The Dalles High Riverhawks 3-1 in the final game of the year to finish with a 1-9 IMC record (6-13 overall) and a last-place finish in the six-team league.
There are indications that might chance this season. Six of the teams in the NWOC had losing overall records in 2021. Wilsonville and La Salle Prep both finished with a top-10 position in the OSAA rankings last year.
The other teams in the league are Canby, Centennial, Parkrose, Hillsboro, Putnam, and Milwaukie. None of those teams had winning overall records.
Hood River began its 22-game 2022 season Tuesday at home with a league matchup against the Canby High Cougars (result was after the printed edition deadline). The Eagles’ next game is Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in a Gorge rivalry nonleague match versus The Riverhawks at The Dalles High School. They’ll follow with a 6:45 p.m. home game Sept. 6 in another NWOC matchup against the Putnam High Kingsmen. The Eagles will play five tournaments and they have a 16-game NWOC schedule that concludes Oct. 25.
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