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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels October 6, 2004 Thivierge delivers as Ashland blocks GP By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings A sleeping giant awoke and gave the Ashland High volleyball team the boost it's been waiting for. Maddison Thivierge, slowed recently by a bout with bronchitis, floored a season-high eight solo blocks -including two straight with Game 2 hanging in the balance - to lead the Grizzlies to a 25-19, 28-26, 25-10 Southern Oregon Conference victory over Grants Pass, Tuesday night at Mountain Avenue gym. The sophomore middle blocker delivered consecutive blocks to save a game point and give the Grizzlies a 25-24 lead in Game 2. Ashland didn't face another game point and eventually took a two-games-to-none lead on Lindsey Stone's corner-scraping ace. "When we were pushed, we pushed back, which was nice because we have a tendency sometimes not to push back," Ashland head coach Josh Rohlfing said. "And then, all the rest of the time we just took care of business. It was very yeoman like, and I though we just kind of stepped up and did our job." The win improved Ashland to 11-4 overall and 6-3 in the SOC, two games behind both North Medford and Roseburg, which are tied for first place in the league standings. It also set up a crucial match at South Medford (6-3 SOC) on Thursday that has major playoff implications. After edging the Cavers in Game 2, the Grizzlies dominated Game 3 behind a momentum-shifting serving series by freshman middle Ruby Stocking. Stocking began serving with the score tied at 4. When she was done, the Grizzlies led 9-5 and had all the momentum. Thivierge had two blocks in the surge to spearhead a Grizzly defense that was relentless, if not perfect. "When I feel pressure I'm trying a lot more to turn the pressure into excitement and intensity," Thivierge said. Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Holgen led the Grizzly offense with team highs in both aces (five) and kills (seven, in 21 attempts). Junior Lindsey Stone, playing through flu-like symptoms, added team-highs in both assists (10) and digs (10) and also had six kills. Junior Jessica Walters (nine assists) and Holly Milligan (four kills) also came through for Ashland. For Grants Pass, junior outside hitter Kim Gonzales spiked a team-high nine kills. Ashland used a 4-0 run to take a 9-5 lead in Game 1, with Stocking aces providing the first three points. Ashland finished with 12 aces as a team, but also had five serving errors. The Cavers came back to tie the opening game at 13 before the Grizzlies again used a mini-rally to regain the momentum. Consecutive stuff blocks by Walters and Thivierge gave Ashland a 22-16 lead, and a Stone kill off an assist by Walters clinched the game six points later. Grizzly senior defensive specialist Elizabeth DeFranco was satisfied with her team's effort, but says they still have a ways to go. "It's not our potential, but we can definitely improve and we will," she said. "We'll bring it out against South on Thursday." Several big-time plays helped the Grizzlies stay on the attack in the back-and-forth middle game. Following Thivierge's clutch blocks, Stone spiked home a kill and Holgen did the same to give the Grizzlies leads of 26-25 and 27-26, respectively. Stone's game-clinching ace streaked past the Cavers' back row defense and just caught the line, capping Ashland's highest-scoring game of the season. Rohlfing loved the poise his team showed in the clutch, especially by Thivierge. According to Rohlfing, Thivierge produced the highest individual solo block line since Rohlfing took over the Grizzlies eight years ago. "We've been working on it, we've been talking about it," Rohlfing said. "That's been the big thing with Maddie is just talking about it, saying, 'Hey, let's make sure that you're solid and that you're putting up the block that you can make and relax a little bit,' because she's that athletic that she can do stuff like that almost every night. She showed it tonight. She was a lot more balanced and just did a awesome job." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams