By Mike Weber
For Columbia Gorge News
THE DALLES — The No. 4-ranked and two-time Tri-Valley Conference champion The Dalles High Riverhawks won two more OSAA Class 4A girls volleyball matches last week to clinch the 2026 TVC title.
The Riverhawks (10-0 TVC, 18-4 overall) celebrated an Oct. 20 senior night event with a 3-2 home win over the Estacada High Rangers (7-3 TVC, 13-8 overall). Three Riverhawk seniors — Edie May, Evelyn Rogers and Manuia Crichton-Tunai — were honored in a special pregame ceremony.
“We have a great group of girls that play for each other and have zero drama amongst them,” said Coach Teresa Morris. “We have some kinks to work out, and we are working on playing more consistently. I’m super proud of this group for pushing to be the best on and off the court.”
It marked the 30th consecutive home win for the Riverhawks. The last time the Riverhawks were beaten at home was a 3-1 loss to the Crook County High Cowgirls on Sept. 14, 2023.
In their final regular season contest, the Riverhawks won 3-0 at North Marion (2-9 TVC, 2-16 overall) on Oct. 22 for a 20th consecutive TVC victory, overlapping the last three seasons. Their last TVC setback was a 3-1 loss to Crook County on Oct. 8, 2024.
The Riverhawks are led by junior outside hitter/setter Jazzy Morris-Holmes, who leads the team in digs and kills. Morris-Holmes, daughter of Coach Teresa Morris, has won the TVC player-of-the-year award the last two seasons. In the matchup versus Estacada, the Riverhawks were led by Morris-Holmes (25 kills, 19 digs, four aces), Rogers (12 kills), junior Aspyn Rubio (eight kills), May (19 digs) and Taylor Tuia (four aces).
In the win over North Marion, the Riverhawks were led by Rogers (10 kills, three aces), Morris-Holmes (nine kills), Rubio (five kills), May (four aces), Tuia (three aces) and sophomore Kendyl Sallee (four aces).
The Riverhawks will host a first-round home matchup in the 16-team 4A state playoffs on Oct. 31 versus a yet-to-be-determined opponent. The playoff matchups will be announced Oct. 27. First-round winners of their Halloween matches will advance to the Class 4A state tournament quarterfinals Nov. 6-7 at North Bend High School.
The Dalles is trying to reach the state tourney for the fifth consecutive year. Last year, the Riverhawks reached the finals for the first time in 37 years.
“We are preparing for the Saturday playoff match now,” said Morris. “There are a lot of strong Class 4A teams this year, but we are hoping to make a deep run in the state tournament again.”
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