The Dalles' Laci Hoylman , left, and Kennedy Abbas, right, go up for a block against Henley in a conciliation match during the Oregon Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
The Dalles' Kennedy Abbas, left, goes up for a kill against Henley in a conciliation match during the Oregon Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
The Dalles' Kaleyah Crichton-Tunai, top, dives for the ball during a match with Henley in the conciliation bracket during the OSAA Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
The Dalles' Jeilane Stewart, left, goes up for a kill against Henley in a conciliation match during the Oregon Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
The Dalles volleyball team celebrate their second set win over Henley in a conciliation match during the OSAA Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
The Dalles loses a heartbreaker their conciliation match against Henley in the Oregon Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
The Dalles' Laci Hoylman , left, and Kennedy Abbas, right, go up for a block against Henley in a conciliation match during the Oregon Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
Chris Pietsch
The Dalles' Kennedy Abbas, left, goes up for a kill against Henley in a conciliation match during the Oregon Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
Chris Pietsch
The Dalles' Kaleyah Crichton-Tunai, top, dives for the ball during a match with Henley in the conciliation bracket during the OSAA Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
Chris Pietsch
The Dalles' Jeilane Stewart, left, goes up for a kill against Henley in a conciliation match during the Oregon Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
Chris Pietsch
The Dalles volleyball team celebrate their second set win over Henley in a conciliation match during the OSAA Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
Chris Pietsch
The Dalles loses a heartbreaker their conciliation match against Henley in the Oregon Volleyball Championships at Springfield High School in Springfield Saturday morning.
After losing in the Nov. 4 quarterfinals of the OSAA Class 4A volleyball state tournament, The No. 3 ranked Tri-Valley Conference Champion The Dalles High Riverhawks (21-4) had hoped to regroup and win a game in Saturday’s consolation round and bring home a trophy.
The Riverhawks, guided by Coach Julie Summers and Assistant Coach Terese Morris, came ever so close to accomplishing their goal to, before losing a very close five set match 24-26, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 15-13 to the No. 7 ranked Henley High Hornets (15-6) at Springfield High School.
“We didn’t give up and we came back from a 10-3 deficit in the fifth set to make it close at the end,” said Morris. “That’s a pretty big deficit to come back from for sure when it’s only a 15-point game. It’s kind of a bummer ending to our season and it wasn’t what we were necessarily hoping for. We were proud of the girls for getting to the state tournament. It’s been a long time since The Dalles has been there. This is the start of something that we hope will continue in the future. None of the girls had ever been to state and so it was a whole new experience for them.”
The Riverhawks capped an absolutely sensational season in which they won 16 games in a row and lost only three sets all year before facing stronger opponents in the eight-team state tournament. The Riverhawks qualified for the prestigious tournament for the first time since 2001, when the The Dalles earned the fifth place trophy.
The tournament not only marked the conclusion of the year for the Riverhawks, but it also marked the end of their The Dalles High School volleyball career for seniors Gigi Hiser, Zoe Dunn, Kaylee Fleming, Lydia DiGennaro, Ahnikay Rubio and Tri-Valley Conference Player-of-the-Year Kennedy Abbas.
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