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Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad September 28, 2005 ‘Unfocused’ Grizzlies still manhandle Eagles Second-ranked Ashland bounces back from slow start By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings ASHLAND HIGH JUNIOR DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST Jamie Marvin prepares to serve the ball during Southern Oregon Conference volleyball action Tuesday night at Mountain Avenue Gym. The Grizzlies beat Eagle Point in three games. Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland High volleyball coach Josh Rohlfing says motivating his team to take lesser teams seriously hasn’t been a problem. That is, until Tuesday night, when the Grizzlies disappointed their coach with an “unfocused” performance against Southern Oregon Conference foe Eagle Point. The score? Ashland won, 25-19, 25-15, 25-12. Such are the pot holes for a team cruising toward an SOC title with no real challenge in sight. The second-ranked Grizzlies improved to 13-0 overall and 6-0 in league play. They’ve lost only one game in those six matches and have allowed 20 points or more in just three of the 18 SOC games they’ve played. So “unfocused” became a relative term against the Eagles, who fell to 2-4 in the SOC. Ashland dominated from start to finish in front of another big crowd at Mountain Avenue Gym, but didn’t look as good as it did last weekend, when it beat state powers Jesuit and Gresham and won the first-place trophy at the prestigious Rogue Valley Classic. “Tonight, I felt like we felt a little too good about ourselves and we didn’t play like a team that should be contending for a state title at all,” Rohlfing said. “They were very hard to coach tonight and they were unfocused, and they showed a side that I haven’t seen for a solid year.” Ashland was again led by its ferocious foursome — Jessica Walters, Lindsey Stone, Maddison Thivierge and Sarah Holgen — but also got a big lift from up-and-comers Ruby Stocking and Natalie Lefler. Walters was everywhere, as usual, with 13 kills and nine digs, while Thivierge racked up a match-high 17 kills. Already in sync with Walters, Stone continued to perfect her chemistry with both Thivierge and Holgen, dishing out 30 assists. Holgen had nine kills. But it was Stocking who impressed Rohlfing the most. The sophomore middle blocker came through with a team-high 16 digs, three aces and three kills, including two in a row as Ashland pulled away in the third game. “I feel like I’m improving,” Stocking said. That’s an ominous sign for teams already struggling to compete against Ashland’s bulging arsenal. “Last year I started gaining my level of play,” Stocking added, “and over the summer I practiced a lot, so now it’s paying off because in the season I feel like I’m contributing. I don’t feel nervous, I just feel a part of the team.” Ashland started the match on fire, slamming three kills, including a power smash from Thivierge, en route to a quick 7-0 lead. The Eagles clawed their way back, eventually taking leads of 16-15 and 17-16. Walters, Thivierge and Stone quickly smothered the upset bid by generating five kills and an ace — three kills by Walters, two by Thivierge, and all the assists and the game-clinching ace by Stone. Ashland carried that momentum into Game 2, but this time held fast to its early lead and was never pushed. Game 3 was more of the same, but with different faces. The Grizzlies leaned on their bench and experienced no slippage. That pleased Rohlfing, who’s never been shy about substituting out his stars during blowouts or letdowns. “The great part was that I was able to show our depth a little bit and pull out some of our big guns and have [Samantha] Gilbert come in and kind of help us out,” Rohlfing said. “So in a lot of ways it was a very positive thing tonight for us to slump a little bit because there was a couple kids who came in and did a good job of bringing some energy to us and helping us to reassert ourselves.” Girls Soccer Jamie Roupp scored two goals and set up another goal with an assist as Ashland destroyed Eagle Point 7-1 at North Mountain Park. The win improved the Grizzlies to 2-4 in the SOC, while the Eagles stayed winless at 0-6. With Ashland already up 3-0 at the break, Roupp connected twice in the second half to finish off the Eagles. Hannah Sohl tallied a goal and an assist for the Grizzlies, while sophomore Kelsie Van Veghel scored for Eagle Point. Ashland’s next game is Saturday against Klamath Union. Women’s Soccer The Western Oregon University women’s soccer team used three second-half goals to stay a step ahead of Southern Oregon University in a back-and-forth 4-2 nonconference victory at University Field. The NCAA Division II Wolves (3-6) never trailed in snapping a three-game slide but needed its 18-shot second-half offensive surge to pull away from the NAIA Raiders (4-6), who had a two-game winning streak halted. The sister schools battled to a 1-1 deadlock through 61 minutes until sophomore Erica Hibbard blasted a five-yarder past a SOU defender and by diving goalkeeper Melanie Hopkins with 28 minutes remaining. WOU extended the lead to 3-1 10 minutes later when junior midfielder Lisa Munyon redirected a pass into goal, but Southern answered seconds later on senior all-star forward Lisa Howard’s 20th career score. The Monmouth school, which finished with a 24-19 shot edge, iced the contest with the game’s final tally in the 88th frame. After the Wolves staked a 1-nil halftime edge, freshman defender Sara Johnson tied the contest by taking a dreamy pass from freshman midfielder Nicole Vilarino, dribbling twice, and scoring from five yards out 11 minutes into the second stanza. Howard led Southern with three shots, while WOU’s Munyon and freshman Katie Branam led all players with four. Senior goalie Amanda Nelson turned away eight Raider shot attempts to earn her third win of the season for Western. The Raiders return to Cascade Conference action Saturday night with a crucial encounter against Oregon Tech at the Klamath Sports Park. Game time is 7 p.m. Rich Rosenthal contributed to this report. Sports editor Joe Zavala can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 3020 or [email protected]. --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.