The Dalles fourth at 4A state volleyball tourney

“I’m super proud of the team and our goal was to win one match and we surpassed that goal, and we played very good,” said Morris, whose squad advanced to the state tourney for a third straight year. “Since we only had a couple of returning starters from last year back, I thought our team did a great job of playing together all year and we really had an awesome season.” The Riverhawks had a great start in a Nov. 8, 1 p.m. quarterfinal contest versus the Tri-Valley Conference champion Crook County High Cowgirls (25-7). The Riverhawks won the opening set 25-16, but the Cowgirls turned the momentum in their favor, winning the next three sets, 26-24, 25-19, 25-22.

“All of our games were close, and we came out on fire in the first set,” said Morris. “Crook County kind of picked it up in the next three sets to get the win. I think it was one of the best matches of the day and so we felt proud of how well we played.

“When we were not playing each other, both of our teams supported the other by cheering them on in their matches, which was great.”

The Riverhawks won 3-2 in the 11 a.m. Nov. 9 consolation round over the Skyline Conference champion Henley High Hornets (17-5), 25-17, 21-25, 23-25, 25-15, 15-8. That advanced The Dalles to the fourth-place match which it won over Cascade of Turner, 25-22, 25-18, 17-25, 19-25, 15-10.

“We got two big wins on Saturday and it was super helpful to have the Crook County players and coaches cheering for us, and then the parents of their players were also cheering for us, too,” said Morris.

The Riverhawks had two players chosen to the all-tourney teams: freshman outside hitter Jazzy Morris-Holmes (first team); and senior middle blocker Laci Hoylman (second team).

Saturday’s fourth-place trophy contest marked the final game of The Dalles High School volleyball careers of Hoylman, Chrissy Geary, Alice Peluso and Maddie Brock.

“This team was just amazing and the biggest thing with these girls is that we never had any drama this season. They all got along well, and they all played for each other. Laci and Maddie were definitely leaders for us on the court. We’re definitely going to have to have some players step up next year and fill those roles for sure."

“I was able to get a lot of playing time for a lot of girls this year, so that was helpful. We definitely have a lot of good players coming back to help us next season. I think we’ll have a very good chance of reaching the state tournament again," Morris said.

Crook County took home a third-place trophy following a 3-0 win over Stayton; Marshfield won the state title with a 3-1 win over Marist in the championship game.