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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 1, 2004 Green Grizz good as gold By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Lindsey Stone was handing out raisin oatmeal cookies. Maddison Thivierge was smiling broadly. Head coach Josh Rohlfing was using words like "consistent" and "dominating" to describe his players. Ashland High Junior Lindsey Stone sets the ball to teammate Maddison Thivierge, a Sophomore, during Saturday's playoff match against South Salem at Mountain Avenue Gym. The Grizzlies won in straight games. Andrew Mariman | Ashland Daily Tidings. It was a good day for the Ashland High volleyball team. If the Grizzlies are right, more will soon follow on the biggest stage of all. Passing and hitting with almost surgical precision, Ashland sideswiped South Salem, 25-9, 25-15, 25-10, in a Class 4A state playoff match Saturday at Mountain Avenue Gym. The win earns Ashland one of 16 spots in the this weekend's state tournament, Friday and Saturday at the Chiles Center in Portland. The 10th-ranked Grizzlies (21-5) will play in the same four-team pool as third-ranked Gresham and seventh-ranked Crook County. After their third impressive win in a row, the Grizzlies didn't sound worried. "I feel really good about this team," Rohlfing said. "This may be a year where all good things come to an end. I think this might be our year to finally get Gresham at the state tournament. I feel good about what our chances are. I like how we match up with a lot of teams up there." No block, no problem Nothing quite like a match against a blockless opponent to gain that kind of confidence. Trained against tall Southern Oregon Conference opponents all season long, the Grizzlies went ballistic versus the shorter Saxons. Junior outside hitter Jessica Walters, sophomore middle Thivierge and sophomore outside hitter Sarah Holgen each took turns shelling South Salem's front line. They combined for 37 kills on 57 attempts. Walters led the way with 16 kills, Holgen had 11 and Thivierge 10. In the middle of it all was Stone, who distributed the ball with such deception and accuracy, the Saxons' defense often found itself out of position. "We all knew what was at stake," said Stone, who finished with 37 assists and seven digs. "We all realized that this is what we came for, this is what we fight for, this is what all those hours are for and we got together, we played together, we moved as a unit and we danced. And it was good." So good, in fact, that 20 minutes into the match, there was little doubt regarding the outcome. The rout begins The Grizzlies, who never trailed in Games 1, 2 or 3, took a 6-2 lead right out of the gate. At 11-4, moments after a thunderous kill by Walters, Saxons' coach Miriam Castillo called a timeout. Eight points later, Castillo called a second one. It was 19-4. The Grizzlies clinched the opening game on consecutive kills by Walters and Holgen. Game 2 was more of the same. Ashland took leads of 11-4 and 19-10 and was never seriously threatened. Walters' ace on game point - one of three she had on the day, to go with a team-high 14 digs - gave Ashland a two-games-to-none lead. Ashland scored the first eight points of Game 3 and the Saxons were never closer than seven points the rest of the way. Walters had two kills and a block in the surge, and Holgen ripped three straight kills to extend Ashland's lead to 11-2. The Grizzlies scored three straight points, all on kills, to secure their berth to Portland. "The sets were just perfect tonight, just perfect, and the blockers weren't very big at all so it was just a lot of fun," Walters said. Nerves of steel In a development that could prove fatal to Ashland's future playoff foes, the Grizzlies' youthful inconsistency continued its evolution into youthful exuberance. With the season hanging in the balance, the green Grizzlies - made up of two seniors, five juniors, five sophomores and a freshman - appeared unfazed by the pressure and uncorked one of their finest all-around performances of the season. "I just felt really confident," said Thivierge, one of those young guns. "I wasn't underestimating this team at all, but I felt confident in myself and in my teammates that we could all get the job done." Rohlfing said it's all about the feeling. "I think these girls are being consistent with their preparation and their pregame focus and you can see it when they step on the court," he said. "It's consistent. What we're doing is consistent, and it's something that we've been preaching for the last few weeks but they understand the concept, they understand what it's about. "When you step on the court it should feel the same every single time and I think this group does it better than any group I've ever had." Grizzly notes: Ashland opens the pool play section of the state tournament at 3 p.m. Friday against Marshfield. Ashland then plays Crook County at 5 p.m. and Gresham at 7 p.m. Only the top two teams from each pool advance to Saturday's eight-team championship bracket, with the top six teams there earning trophies. � Holgen had eight digs and Ashland senior defensive specialist Liz DeFranco five. Also for the Grizzlies, senior outside hitter Holly Milligan had five kills and junior outside hitter Lauren Dow added four. 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