The No. 16-ranked South Wasco County High Redsides advanced to the Class 1A state volleyball playoffs a fourth straight year following a 3-0 win over the Glenwood/Klickitat High Eagles (7-3 league, 9-6 overall) in the Big Sky League District Tournanent semifinals Saturday at Echo High School.
The Big Sky League West Division champion Redsides meet the No. 17-ranked Open Door Christian Academy Huskies (4-6 Valley 10 League, 10-7 oveall) in an OSAA first round state playoff game today (Oct. 27) at 6 p.m. at South Wasco County High in Maupin.
Wednesday’s winner advances to the second round of the playoffs and a Saturday road match against an opponent to be determined at the conclusion of the first round.
The two evenly matched squads met in a regular season contest Oct. 16 at Open Door in Troutdale and the Huskies won 3-0. The Redsides’ junior duo of Tracy Magill and Lois Shetler didn’t play in that match though because they were sick
“We didn’t play very well in that game, but we’re excited about playing at home and we’re eagerly looking forward to this rematch,” said South Wasco Coach Susie Miles.
South Wasco (8-1 league, 17-7 overall) won its eighth straight Big Sky League game in the 25-19, 25-19, 25-15 victory over the Eagles. It marked South Wasco’s third straight win over Glenwood/Klickitat this season. The Redsides then followed with a Big Sky championship game matchup against the No. 7 ranked Echo High Cougars (11-0 league, 21-4 overall) and lost 25-19, 25-23, 25-18.
“We played two great matches at districts,” said Miles. “I am really proud of how the girls played like a team and kept the energy level up the whole day. They never quit. That’s why they earned second place and brought home a trophy.”
The Eagles, guided by Coach Jaecee Hoctor, lost in the third-place match to Big Sky East Division No. 3 seed Ione/Arlington (8-5 league, 11-9 overall). Ione advanced to the state playoffs, while the loss ended the season for Glenwood/Klickitat. The contest marked the final game of the prep volleyball career for Eagle seniors Laney Tuthill and Julie Fink.
“We always look forward to the postseason and maybe having an opportunity to go to state, but they played hard and I’m proud of them,” said Hoctor, a 2003 Klickitat High graduate, in her 14th year as the Eagles volleyball coach. “It was really good hospitality everywhere we went with good fans and the administration from every school was really nice to us. At Echo, they did such a good job of hosting the district tournament and it was really a lot of fun there. It’s really sad to see Laney and Julie conclude their career. They were both good assets to our team with their hitting and setting and being leaders, too, and they were just fun to coach the last four years.”
In the semifinals versus South Wasco, Tuthill had two kills, three aces and one block. Fink had four assists and one ace. Junior setter Alise Gimlin had three assists, two kills and four digs. Sophomore Lena Thiemann had three digs.
In the game against the Cardinals, Tuthill had eight kills, one ace, two blocks, two digs and she was 17-for-20 serving. Gimlin had eight kills, 10 assists and three digs. Fink had two kills, 10 assists and one ace. Junior Chloe Wenz had five kills, four aces and she was 23-for-26 serving. Sophomore Isabella Bensel had four kills and one ace.
In the Big Sky quarterfinals Oct. 20, the Cardinals came from behind to win 3-2 over the Big Sky West Division No. 2 seed Dufur High Rangers (2-2 league, 8-8 overall) at Dufur High School. The Rangers, guided by third-year Coach Teresa Morris, built a 2-0 set lead after winning 25-12 and 25-23. The Cardinals came back and won three straight sets (25-21, 25-21, 15-13) to get the victory and advance to semifinals.
“This was a heartbreaking loss for sure, especially since we felt pretty confident going into the game,” said Morris. “We also knew that since we beat them earlier in the season (3-0 win Sept. 7), they would want to come in here and beat us. We knew we would have to work hard, but they (Cardinals) played hard, and they played more aggressively. We just made some mistakes in crucial parts of the game. … We kept fighting and we didn’t give up, but the girls are super disappointed. The season has to come to an end at some point, but this was just a little earlier than what we had planned.”
The contest marked the final game of the Dufur High School volleyball career for Ranger seniors Abby Beal, Emily Crawford, Jadyn Fargher, Madi Malcolm and Ashley Bailey.
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Glenwood/Klickitat advanced to the district semifinals following a 3-2 win over the Big Sky East Division No. 2 seed Sherman High Huskies (6-6 league, 10-10 overall) Oct. 20 at Sherman High in Moro. The Eagles won 13-25, 25-17, 25-21, 20-25, 15-11.
“It was intense, that’s for sure,” said Hoctor, who led the Eagles to the district playoffs in their first ever season in OSAA Class 1A volleyball. “Everyone did a good job; they all battled and kept pushing and working hard for every point. They kept their intensity throughout the entire match. I’m really proud of the team; this is a good group of girls and they all get along well, which really makes it fun.”
The Eagles were playing for the first time since Oct. 7 as some players were in quarantine with COVID health and safety protocols. The Eagles were led by Tuthill (16 kills, ace, two blocks), Gimlin (eight kills, ace, nine assists), Fink (five aces, 15 assists) and Chloe Wenz (five aces, two kills).
The Huskies, guided by Coach Karissa Gorham, concluded the regular season Oct. 18 with a 3-2 win over the Condon High Blue Devils and had momentum after winning four of their past five games. The league playoff game marked the final game of the Sherman High volleyball careers of seniors Cali Johnson and Allie Marker.
“I was really proud of the girls and how much effort they put in, but we had a couple of little lulls and Klickitat really came out firing in Game 2 and then we just lost our momentum from that point out,” said Gorham. “We had a lot of good moments though and I was really proud of the girls, and it was a good conclusion to our season.”
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