Big Sky volleyball players, from left to right, Kylie Iverson (SWC), Mercedez Cardona (Sherman), and Piper Neal (Dufur) will play prominent roles over the final half of the season as district play approaches on Oct. 26 in Echo. As of Thursday, two-time defending district champion South Wasco County is in first place, Dufur is at third place behind Echo, and Sherman is one game away from fourth place.
Big Sky volleyball players, from left to right, Kylie Iverson (SWC), Mercedez Cardona (Sherman), and Piper Neal (Dufur) will play prominent roles over the final half of the season as district play approaches on Oct. 26 in Echo. As of Thursday, two-time defending district champion South Wasco County is in first place, Dufur is at third place behind Echo, and Sherman is one game away from fourth place.
MAUPIN – Volleyball action is heating up in the 1A classification, and early indications are that the Big Sky Conference is wide open for the taking.
Through the quarter pole of the volleyball season, South Wasco County is 3-1 atop the leaderboard, and hot on their heels are Echo, Dufur, Ione, Condon, Sherman and Mitchell-Spray, with only the top four teams picking up district invitations.
As of Tuesday, the Lady Redsides have posted a 3-1 record in five-set matches, including a 25-18, 12-25, 25-21, 24-26, 8-15 five-set loss at Echo.
In that match, SWC was successful on 91.6 percent of its serves, as Jade McCoy drilled 16 for 16 and Laurynn Davis added a team-high seven aces.
Holly Miles and Hailey Anderson each had eight kills, and the group of Destiny Mora-Lopez, Miles, Kylie Iverson, Hailey Anderson and Davis all contributed with blocks.
“It was a great match,” SWC head coach Susie Miles said. “Both teams played good volleyball.”
SWC (8-7 overall, 3-1 league) has non-league wins over Griswold, Heppner and Dayville-Monument, and added a sweep over league opponent Sherman to go with a pair of five-set victories against Dufur and Ione/Arlington.
Thus far, the Redsides, who are 2-4 when playing 3A and 2A squads, have played the most matches in the league. They are tied for the second-most matches played with Country Christian and one behind No. 1-ranked Powder Valley.
These tough matchups were planned to keep the team sharp, as they strive to score a third consecutive district crown.
“I think the answer to this team having any extra pressure is just for them to have fun,” coach Miles said. “We want every practice to have enthusiasm, excitement and fun. That’s how we are going to play. We want to keep it all the way positive and that is kind of the name of the game, because in volleyball, you always want to have momentum. And that all starts in practice.”
After Friday’s match versus Condon, SWC travels to Dufur for a league match at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and then hosts winless Mitchell-Spray at 5 p.m. Thursday.
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Under first-year head coach Teresa Morris, the Dufur Rangers have won six of nine matches, 2-2 in league action, with nine matches and a tournament remaining before district play on Oct. 26 in Echo.
As part of those six victories, five have come by sweep fashion, while two of their losses were in five-set marathons, both in league versus SWC and Echo.
Last year, Dufur finished 5-2 entering the district rounds, and lost to SWC and Echo to end their postseason hopes.
“So far, this team has improved overall in all areas,” coach Morris said. “The biggest focus right now is playing as a team and playing with more emotion and energy. We are also still focusing on the fundamentals, especially passing. They are getting more and more aggressive and gaining confidence, which is amazing.”
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At the start of the season, the Sherman Huskies had several question marks given the loss of five seniors and two other players, so second-year coach Karissa Gorham has had to fill in the rest of her group surrounding four returners, Mercedez Cardona, Jaelyn Justesen, Alyssa Hill and Ellie Stone.
Daisy Brown, Natalie Martin, Makayla Macnab and Cali Johnson have blended in nicely.
Since steamrolling Nixyaawii 25-15, 25-15, and 25-17 on Sept. 7, the Huskies have lost three in a row to SWC, Prairie City and Dufur, all by sweep, but will have some added floor minutes with three contests at Mitchell, and in Bend versus Trinity Lutheran and Prairie City.
At 0-2 in league, Sherman will try to get back into contention with three Big Sky tilts this week at Echo (Tuesday), before finishing things out at home against Condon (Thursday) and Echo (Friday).
“I feel like we have a pretty strong team and the only thing that can beat us is ourselves,” Gorham said. “I think we can finish our season strong. As long as we come in and play up to the standard that we have developed, then we will be very successful for districts.”
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