Riverhawk volleyball climbs to No. 2 ranking

The Riverhawks, guided by Coach Julie Summers, are now atop the Tri-Valley Conference standings in a first-place tie with Crook County. If both teams win their last three games - as expected - to remain tied at the conclusion of the regular season Oct. 17, the Riverhawks would win their first league title since 2001, because they’re higher in the OSAA rankings than the Cowgirls.

“This win pretty much sealed first place for us and as long as we finish up strong the last three games, then we’ll lock up first place,” said Summers. “It’s the first time we’ve beat Crook County in a long time. I couldn’t be more proud of my girls and they came back from a huge hole (10-point deficit) in the third set. I told them that I didn’t want them to look at the scoreboard. We’re going to come back one point at a time and we’re not going to quit and we’re not going to get outhustled.”

The Riverhawks played with a lot of emotion and high energy in an important contest that seemed similar to the intensity level of a playoff game. The Riverhawks trailed in all three sets and recorded come-from-behind victories in each, 25-23, 25-18, 28-26.

The first set was an evenly played, seesaw battle in which neither team led by more than two points at any time. The Riverhawks trailed 15-13 and then came back to knot it 17-17. The teams traded points and five more deadlocks followed, the final one at 23-23.

A block/kill by senior middle blocker Kennedy Abbas (10 kills, five blocks, 12 digs) put The Dalles up 24-23 for set point. Following a Crook County timeout, The Dalles junior Lilly Adams (five kills, two blocks, two aces) then served a set-winning ace.

“I’m really happy and I knew that we could win, and it was just a matter of us putting everything out there to come up with a win and I’m glad we did that,” said Adams. “I think this was one of our biggest games of the year for sure. The biggest game will be when we go to the state tournament, which is what we’re hoping to do.”

The Cowgirls came out and took the early momentum in set No. 2, with 10-5 and 14-8 leads. The Dalles fought back, which is one of the trademarks of the team, and knotted things at 15-15 behind Kaleyah Crichton-Tunai’s four straight service points.

A 16-16 tie followed, which marked the fifth and final deadlock of the game. A kill by junior middle blocker Zoe LeBreton (nine kills, two blocks, team-high 16 digs) lifted The Dalles in front for the first time, 17-16. The Riverhawks got another point for an 18-16 advantage, forcing a Cowgirls’ timeout.

“When you dig yourself into a hole, it’s sometimes hard to get out of it,” LeBreton said. “We managed to do it though and pull out a win and I was really happy and excited about that. After losing to Crook County earlier this season, we all knew that we were capable of beating them here at home. Beating them in three sets was really amazing.

“It’s just what we needed to refresh our season and just help us push forward until the end of the season. We’re ready to go to state, which will really be awesome.”

The Dalles took control, led by Abbas, who served five straight points, putting the Riverhawks up 22-16. A LeBreton kill made it 23-18 and two consecutive Crook County hitting errors lifted The Dalles to the 25-18 win.

“I knew we could win, and it was in the third game that we didn’t do very good the last time that we played them,” said Abbas. “I think it was a huge milestone for our team to come back after falling behind and never giving up. We just made it happen. Our goal is to go to state, but I think we’re focusing now on just playing one game at a time to finish the regular season.”

Set No. 3 was similar to the second set with Crook County again taking a 10-5 advantage, forcing a Riverhawk timeout. Crook County then appeared to take control of the game, building an 18-8 lead. But a 6-1 Riverhawk run narrowed the margin to 19-14, forcing a Cowgirls’ timeout.

An ace by senior libero Lydia DiGennaro (15-for-16 serving, two aces), who served six straight points from the line, followed by a kill by sophomore Laci Hoylman, put The Dalles in front for the first time at 20-19.

Seven straight deadlocks followed, with the final one at 26-26. A Riverhawk side out after a Cowgirls’ hitting error gave The Dalles match point at 27-26. Senior middle blocker Zoe Dunn (six kills, five blocks, four digs) then hammered a ball to the floor for the match-winning kill.

“I was super proud of the girls,” said Summers. “They never gave up; they battled, and they stayed focused.

“We did exactly what we needed to do to show that we deserve to be on top of the league standings. This group of 12 is pretty incredible and I just love these kids.”

Junior setter Jeilane Stewart (20 assists, seven digs, 12-for-12 serving) served the final two points from the line to help contribute to the Riverhawks’ win. Overcoming the 10-point margin was the largest deficit that The Dalles has come back from this year.

“It was an awesome and a very exciting win, and I was really nervous with the hole that we dug ourselves into in the third set,” said Dunn. “It felt really, really good to dig ourselves out of that. It’s the first time this year that I had a match-winning hit.

“We have a good chance to win the league championship and it’s something that we’ve all been looking forward to all season.”

The Riverhawks are on the verge of clinching an OSAA state playoff berth for the first time since 2015. They have a 47-6 set record, which is the best out of all 31 Class 4A teams. The playoffs begin with first-round games Oct. 29. Winners advance to the state tournament quarterfinals Nov. 4-5 at Springfield High School. The Riverhawks last won a state volleyball title in 1989.