Reed caps career with state recognition

The senior setter, a first-team all-league winner and co-Player of the Year this past fall, received the highest honor of her career by opposing coaches across the state, a second-team all-state award for her play with the Rangers.

“Hearing I made second-team all-state is such an amazing reward,” Reed said. “I feel like all of my hard work throughout the season has paid off. It’s a cool feeling to know that other coaches remembered me, even though I wasn’t at the state tournament. It’s the perfect award to end my volleyball career, and I'm honored to be a part of carrying on the Ranger volleyball tradition.”

In her final three years as a full-time starter, Reed captained teams that amassed a 62-28 overall record, a 30-4 league standing and won 194 sets out of 299.

She has one district championship to her credit, along with a pair of runner-up finishes and she was also part of group that ended up second place in the state tournament in 2014.

“Making it to the state championship game my sophomore year was my most memorable experience throughout my entire career,” Reed said. “Although we came in second, we were still happy. There was a wonderfully-talented group of girls we had that year. The state experience inspired me to want to go back my junior and senior years. With not making it there, I thought it would be hard to get the all-state award.”

As a sophomore running a 5-1 formation under coach Kelly Darden, Reed posted a team-high 511 assists, added 123 digs, 12 kills and a blocked shot.

On a Ranger team that converted 91.6 percent of their serves, Reed made good on 89.8 percent and finished second on the team with 69 aces.

“Sydney improved significantly in her first varsity season,” Darden said. “It is a lot of pressure to run the offense on every play and she really stepped up. She really was the sparkplug of our team and she fed off the success of her hitters.”

Entering her junior season with a new coach Jody Weaver, Reed’s play did not waver.

Reed helped the Rangers to 66 set wins and 11 sweeps through the season and she displayed an all-around skillset on the court with 496 assists in 30 matches, 59 aces, 62 kills, 113 digs and three blocks to pick up first-team all-Big Sky honors after an honorable mention selection in 2014.

“Sydney was a huge part of our team that year as the only setter,” Weaver said. “We relied on her to run our offense and was a consistent leader every day.”

After losing all-state hitter Tianna Ellis at the start of this past year, Reed worked diligently with a new group of hitters and helped the Rangers to second place at the district tournament and a 15-win season.

On the year, Reed converted 90 percent of her serves with 61 aces and she committed 42 errors on 408 attempts.

She also added some extra offense into her repertoire, racking up a career-high 77 kills and 39 errors on 335 total swing attempts.

At the net, she posted another career-high of 513 assists with 81 perfect passes and 273 good passes, and added 119 digs, another career-best.

In addition to her co-Player of the Year status, Reed finished her career as a three-time all-league winner, adding back-to-back first-team awards as an upperclassman.

“You can see that every time she comes to practice or plays in a game, she wants to win,” said teammate Kalie Ellis. “Her drive to win, really pushed us to want to do just as good. I am happy I had the chance to play with her this year. She taught so much about myself and what I need to do to get better as a player and a teammate.”

Weaver was an integral part of Reed’s high school journey, so to see one of her own honored shows that the Dufur program continues to be highly-respected across the 1A classification.

It was a memorable four-year ride, as Weaver expressed how proud she was of Reed’s athletic accomplishments and her off-court contributions during her tenure.

“Sydney has led our team in attitude, work ethic, and was many times, the glue that held us together,” Weaver said. “Without her, we wouldn’t have had nearly the success we had over the past four years. Sydney has not only made great contributions to the Dufur volleyball team, but to the school and community as well.”