The Dalles volleyball players, from left to right, Kilee Hoylman, Lauryn Belanger and Breanna Birchfield, helped the ninth-ranked Lady Riverhawks to a four-game victory Tuesday over No. 10 Pendleton for the program’s first win over the Bucks since 2016.
The Dalles volleyball players, from left to right, Kilee Hoylman, Lauryn Belanger and Breanna Birchfield, helped the ninth-ranked Lady Riverhawks to a four-game victory Tuesday over No. 10 Pendleton for the program’s first win over the Bucks since 2016.
For the first time since Sept. 20, 2016, The Dalles volleyball team defeated Pendleton, doing so in four sets, 25-15, 25-17, 7-25 and 26-24 in varsity action Tuesday at Kurtz Gym.
With the win, the Riverhawks were in a two-way tie for third place with Pendleton and they leapfrogged the Bucks into No. 9 in the 5A classification.
Coming off a silver bracket triumph in Franklin, the team’s second tournament win of the fall, head coach Doug Magee felt like all the pieces fell into place—especially the passing, which set up 74 kills and 70 assists.
“What I have tried to get into their minds is that if you go into a game and you play hard and you don’t die off, that’s how you keep yourselves in contention,” Magee said. “I told them as long as they fight to stay in the game, I will never take you out. I couldn’t be more proud of this team effort. That was a huge stepping stone towards them making the playoffs. If they can keep that fire, keep that tough mentality and know which teams they have to beat, it will continue to be another step in the right direction.”
Audrey Synon dropped a team-leading 20 kills, 10 blocks, 31 digs and nine service aces, and Breanna Birchfield checked in with 13 kills and 17 blocks.
Charlie May went for nine kills and 14 blocks, Kaylee Fleming tacked on nine kills, six blocks, 24 digs and four aces on her 51 serves, and Kilee Hoylman reeled off four kills, 59 digs and seven aces.
Hannah Biehn tallied three kills, five digs, five aces and 30 assists, and Maggie Justesen ended up with five kills, two blocks, nine digs, two aces and a game-high 40 assists.
“Our goal was to really beat them, so getting that out of the way gets us closer to a higher ranking and closer to state, helps our confidence and builds us up and gets us ready to compete against any team we play,” Justesen said.
The Dalles (6-3 overall, 1-1 league) hosts Redmond (2-4, 0-2) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, travels to Hood River Valley for a match at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, before ending the week at the St. Helens Tournament slated for 9 a.m. Saturday.
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