In their first season in the Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference, The Dalles Riverhawks volleyball team took home first place honors at the district tournament. The Riverhawks defeated Molalla High School on Oct. 19 to be named conference champs.
In their first season in the Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference, The Dalles Riverhawks volleyball team took home first place honors at the district tournament. The Riverhawks defeated Molalla High School on Oct. 19 to be named conference champs.
The No. 3-ranked The Dalles High Riverhawks won the Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference championship following a 25-19, 25-23, 25-22 win over the Molalla High Indians on Oct. 19 at Molalla High School.
The Riverhawks (9-1 TVC, 20-2 overall) captured their first league title since 2001, when they won the Class 3A Tri-Valley Conference championship. The Riverhawks have qualified for the 16-team OSAA state playoffs for the first time since 2015 and they’ll play a first-round home game on Oct. 29 against an opponent yet-to-be-determined.
If the Riverhawks win Saturday, they’ll advance to the Class 4A state tournament quarterfinals Nov. 4-5 at Springfield High School. The last time the Riverhawks advanced to the tournament was 2001 when they earned the fifth-place trophy. The Riverhawks, guided by second-year Coach Julie Summers, are talking about winning their first state championship since 1989.
“We’re excited for the girls; they’ve worked really hard and stayed focused all season and it’s been a pretty exciting season,” said Summers. “At the beginning of the season, I felt if our team played the way I knew they could, I knew that we had a very good shot at getting the league title. I had a feeling that the best two teams at the start were us and Crook County (9-1 TVC, 17-10 overall). The girls were putting in a lot of work during preseason practice and they improved, so I knew that we had all the ingredients to be the No. 1 team in our league.”
The Riverhawks have posted a 56-6 set record, which is the best out of 31 Class 4A teams. The Riverhawks have a 15-game winning streak and all of their wins have been by 3-0 sweeps or 2-0 in tournaments. They’ve lost only one game to a Class 4A team, which was 3-2 to No. 8 ranked Crook County on Sept. 15 in Prineville. Their other loss was to the No. 7-ranked Class 5A La Salle High Prep Falcons (18-4).
“The results have been pretty incredible this year,” said Summers. “I think that everybody, including players, parents and the community are in awe of what the girls have done collectively. There’s not just one standout player on the team. Every single person helps contribute to our wins.
“That’s what makes us such a strong team. You can’t just isolate one person, which is what a lot of teams we play do, because they have one or two people that we have to look out for.”
In the Riverhawks’ regular season finale versus Molalla (4-6 TVC, 11-10 overall), Jeilane Stewart served 14-for-14 with four aces, 23 assists and 12 digs. Kennedy Abbas was 9-for-10 serving with three aces, nine kills and 12 digs. Zoe LeBreton had 14 kills, nine digs and one ace. Zoe Dunn had five kills and one block. Kaylee Fleming had two kills and one block. Kaleyah Crichton-Tunai served 10-for-11, with one ace and she had five assists. Lydia DiGennaro served 12-for-16 with five aces and four digs. Lilly Adams served 12-for-16 with four aces and five digs.
“I don’t foresee us losing on Saturday,” said Summers. “I think it will be a great game. I feel pretty confident, and the girls are very excited for this next leg of the race. They’re pumped and ready to go.
“I’m super excited for them to have the playoff experience and to just really see and believe how good they really are. We definitely have a good shot at winning the title. We just have to stay focused, locked in and just continue to push ourselves. I’m excited to see how far we can go, and I may be biased, but I believe that we are the best team in the state.”
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