South Wasco County wins Big Sky volleyball title

“I’m very proud of our team and it was definitely a season goal of ours to win the title and get that board to hang in our gym,” said Miles. “We had a great day. We walked right off the bus, and we were ready to do our job. We knew that we had two games that we had to play, and we had to play well in order to win because both of our opponents were good teams.”

The Redsides will play a first-round home game in the 32-team OSAA state playoffs Wednesday versus the Southwest Christian High Wildcats (14-9), the fourth-place team from the Valley 10 League. Wednesday’s winner advances to a second-round game Oct 29 with a berth into the 1A state tournament at stake. The Nov. 4-5 tourney is at Ridgeview High School in Redmond. South Wasco last advanced to the tourney in 2018. This marks the fifth straight year that the Redsides have reached the state playoffs.

Last weekend, the Big Sky League West Division Champion Redsides used junior setter Julie Hull’s four service points to build a 4-0 lead early in the first set of the title match. The Big Sky East Division Champion Cardinals responded with a 6-2 rally, knotting it 6-6. A kill by senior outside hitter Kylie Iverson lifted the Redsides in front 7-6 and they led for the remainder of the set. An ace served by Iverson, extended the Redsides lead to 9-6.

“It was very exciting. We played really well and I’m glad that I did this with my team,” said Iverson, the Big Sky League player of the year. “It’s exciting to win the award and I’m very thankful for it.”

Leading 17-14, Iverson and junior middle blocker Anabell Udey pounded kills in a 7-2 run, putting the Redside at set point. Udey then served a set-winning ace in the 25-16 win.

“We were really, really happy to have lots of our fans come to The Dalles for the game,” said Miles. “Lots of people from South Wasco County came wearing their green and gold and they cheered on their team.”

The Cardinals took a 7-5 lead in set two before the Redsides used a 9-1 run to take a 14-8 lead, forcing a Cardinal timeout. Udey, a Big Sky first team all-league selection, and Iverson, led the way to another 25-16 win.

“I’m really proud of our setters, Julie Hull and Kylie, who both did a really good job of playing all the way around and they didn’t get subbed out at all,” said Miles. “They played well in both games; they helped run our offense and they helped us to do some awesome things with the ball.”

The Cardinals led early in the third set, before South Wasco senior Tracy Magill served five straight points — with one ace — to help ignite a 6-0 Redsides’ rally for a 7-4 lead. There were six more ties, the final one at 18-18.

Kylie Iverson and her freshman sister, Jayda, helped the Redsides go on top 22-19 as both pounded kills for points to force a Cardinal timeout. After Udey’s ace made it 23-19, the Cardinals came back, trimming the margin to 24-23. The Redsides were able to hang on for a 25-23 win after a Cardinal hitting error.

“It’s really fun playing together with my sister and we can go home and talk about the game,” said Kylie Iverson. “Ever since we were little, we’ve always played volleyball together. I’m really glad that I get to play my senior season with her and I’m glad that she gets to play a lot.”