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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 6, 2004 Volleyball out after third round By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings PORTLAND - Liz DeFranco wiped the tears out of her eye and tried to sum up another Ashland High volleyball season. It wasn't easy. "The journey we went on was amazing," she said. "At the beginning of the year, it wasn't in my wildest dreams that we'd end up here. I didn't think we'd make the playoffs." The Grizzlies did make the playoffs thanks to a late-season surge. But just as quickly as that push began, Ashland fell right back down to earth Friday. Gresham took advantage of Ashland's perpetual serve receive woes en route to a 25-19, 25-11 pool play victory, knocking the Grizzlies out of the OSAA Class 4A state championships for the second year in a row. Ashland (22-7) won its pool play opener over Marshfield then fell in a three-game thriller to Crook County to set up the do-or-die matchup with the Gophers at the Chiles Center. It was close early on, but Gresham (25-5) won eight out of the last 10 points in Game 1 and 12 of the first 15 points in Game 2 to all but secure Ashland's fate. "I think we just ran out of gas, and you can't really do anything about that," Ashland head coach Josh Rohlfing said. Junior outside hitter Jessica Walters led Ashland with 32 kills on the day, while junior setter Lindsey Stone dished out a team-high 69 assists. DeFranco, a defensive specialist who's one of just two seniors on the roster, paced the Grizzlies with 24 digs. Fatigue was an issue late in the day because volleyball was a problem early. The Grizzlies dominated Marshfield in Game 1, but were sporadic in Games 2 and 3 and needed a clutch finish to escape with a 25-17, 17-25, 15-11 win. It was the same story against Crook County, which went on to capture the top seed out of Pool 3. Playing some of its best volleyball of the season, Ashland cruised past the Cowgirls (31-3) in the opening game and looked well on its way toward clinching a spot in today's eight-team championship bracket. Ashland's passing game took a nosedive in Game 2, however, and the Cowgirls stormed back for a 18-25, 25-21, 15-13 win. Game 3 was a classic, but only after the Cowgirls seized a quick 5-0 lead. Ashland used a 5-1 run to get within 12-11. Later, Ashland pulled to within 13-12 and 14-13, but the Grizzlies never knotted the score. A tip kill by outside hitter Rhea Wortman clinched the match for Crook County. "It's been an amazing season," Walters said. "Everyone on our team is so close, we're all just emotionally attached to each other and that's why we're all so upset." The opening game against Crook County proved to be Ashland's high-water mark for the tournament, but the Grizzlies could never quite match that performance thereafter. Down 6-3 to the Cowgirls, Ashland won 15 out of the next 19 points to take an 18-10 lead. Along the way, Ashland's passing was stellar, allowing the Grizzlies to wet up an offense that was virtually unstoppable once it got going. Walters had 11 kills against Crook County and sophomore Sarah Holgen added 11 more. The Gresham match wasn't nearly as attack-packed and the numbers told that story. Walters led Ashland against the Gophers with 12 kills, but no other Grizzly added more than two as Ashland was held to just 25 attacks. "I think our confidence in our serve receive whittled a little bit and just a tiny bit of confidence (dropping) alters your platform," said Stone, referring to hand positioning on bumps. Rohlfing agreed. "It looked like we were getting into our transition before we were passing and a lot of miscommunication," he said. "Our serve receive cost us the matches we lost today. Once we got in system, you saw, there's not a team in a team in the gym that could stop us." DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Isotoner Slippers Dsw Shoes Ceramic Piggy Banks Fanny Mae Eloans Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weight Loss Programs Citibank Student Loans Acs Loan Matchmaking & Dating Scripts Adventure Travel Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation helzberg diamonds Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams