The Dalles head coach Neticia Fanene has been around The Dalles volleyball program for a number of years and has seen many solid citizens dressed down in The Dalles uniform.
So senior night Thursday at Kurtz Gym was a bittersweet moment as veterans Morgan Goslin, Elizabeth Peters and Olivia Starks were honored before their final home match at Kurtz Gym.
Fanene called Goslin a very smart player and lauded Starks as her leading offensive player and added that Peters brings a nice blocking element to put up on the right side.
“We have three amazing seniors,” Fanene said. “They have each grown as great athletes and great people. Olivia and Morgan have led this team. We will miss them very much. But we know they are moving on and continuing to always pursue their team goal – To be legendary.”
In her final home match, Starks, a perennial all-league representative, slammed down 15 kills, had 7.5 blocks and tallied 11 digs.
Goslin added a team-high five service aces, six digs and passed up a game-high 20 assists.
Peters also found her way in the statistical categories with a dig and an assist.
Staked by the emotions of senior night festivities, the Riverhawks went to work with a heightened ferocity against the No. 10 Pendleton Buckaroos, but couldn’t gain an upper hand in falling behind 1-0 after a 25-20 score.
The Lady Bucks then tacked on a 25-17 tally in the second set to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
As recent history would tell, falling behind 2-0 in a match is no unsurmountable feat in the least, so the Riverhawks still had plenty of chances to scratch and claw their way back into this showdown.
Pendleton did not lose a step, however, as it completed the clean sweep by a 25-20 margin to end matters.
“We had a great blocking game. Olivia had a great game,” Fanene added. “We just didn’t look like we were all there tonight.”
Lori Cimmiyotti put forth another sterling all-around effort with eight kills, 11 digs, 2.5 blocks and an ace.
Maddy Bradford checked in with three kills and three digs, and Iliana Telles lobbed up two kills and 10 digs.
Savannah Bass had five assists and five digs, and Deysi Velador eight digs.
The Dalles (7-14 overall, 1-7 league) is next at Hood River to play for the final berth against the Eagles (3-12, 1-7) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“Hood River will be a huge game for us,” Fanene added. “We’ve been working all season on keeping our hitting errors down and that will be very important for us on Tuesday.”
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