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--> --> Grizz netters bounce Cavers By Bobby Heiken Ashland Daily Tidings It wasn't the prettiest thing, but it was enough as the Ashland High volleyball team won its fourth-straight match with a 15-10, 15-8 victory over Grants Pass Tuesday night at the Mountain Avenue gym. "We just take it in stride," Grizz head coach Josh Rohlfing said. "We have to recognize that we played a bad match, but we still came away with a victory. We knew all year that we'd have peaks, plateaus and valleys. It's what you do to improve on the valleys that counts." The eighth-ranked Grizzlies (7-2) busted out of the box and took a 5-0 lead on an ace by senior setter Molly Grossmann and a block by senior Ashley Fence. The feisty Cavers bounced back and tied the score without Ashland even getting the ball over the net. Senior Apryl Allen connected on five straight aces for the tie and then a kill by Kathy Richard and an ace by Ally Codington upped the Grants Pass lead to 8-5. A blistering kill by Ashland's junior middle blocker Marla Morin stopped the Caver run and started a 7-0 run for the Grizzlies. But once again Grants Pass got itself back into the game. A kill by Caver Shanna Claflin and a Grizz error cut the Ashland lead to 12-10. But Ashland had finally seen enough as a kill and block by Morin pushed the score to 14-10 and a Caver error gave Ashland the 15-10 victory. Morin and junior Megan Beugli took control of Game 2 early. Morin pounded the ball repeatedly into the heart of the Caver defense and Beugli served for six straight points as Ashland pulled ahead to a commanding 6-1 lead. A pair of Ashland errors helped Grants Pass cut the lead to 7-5, but Beugli got the Grizzlies rolling again with an ace for an 8-5 lead and then Morin added a block and a kill for a 10-5 advantage. The Grizzlies upped the lead to 11-5 as Beugli laid out for a beautiful dig and then Morin blasted the ball over the net. After Ashland had moved ahead 12-5, Grants Pass made one final push to cut the lead to 12-8 before the hosts closed out the match. Morin continued her hot play as of late, coming away with 10 kills on the night and four blocks. "She took over the match once again and gave us great leadership," Rohlfing said. "I think it comes down to the fact that she knows we have so many weapons that she's just coming in and playing. She doesn't have to dominate." Junior Stefani Talbott added five kills, while Grossmann contributed 19 assists. Ashland travels to Roseburg (9-0) Thursday night to battle the fifth-ranked Indians. The Grizzlies dropped a tough home match to the Indians in September. "The No. 1 thing we have to do is receive serve," Rohlfing said. "I've said this before, but if we can do that and get the ball to our setter and into our offense, there's not a team that can play with us." Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing