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Crater rises to challenge, tips Indians By TED BURNHAM The Comets converted sets by Sarah Yager into 27 kills Tuesday to hand Roseburg its first defeat in Southern Oregon Conference play. Junior outside hitter Erin Kinney and senior middle hitter Nicholette LeBel combined for 22 kills as the Comets (10-6, 7-3 SOC) beat the Indians, 16-14, 15-11, at Crater High. Crater led throughout the second game, but Roseburg (25-5, 10-1 SOC) battled to within a point several times. Crater led 12-11 when a poorly placed Roseburg serve gave the ball to the Comets, who stayed focused to get the next three points and win the match. A boisterous hometown crowd of more than 300 ran onto the gymnasium floor to congratulate the players after their first win over Roseburg in a decade. "We went out with confidence," LeBel said. "We just knew that we were going to win today. Our passers were on fire. Yager was on fire - she had the best sets I had ever seen." Roseburg coach Bruce Myers said Crater played "a super volleyball match." "Anytime you lose like this, after you haven't lost all year, it's tough," Myers said. "Crater passed so well, and they got nearly everything we threw at them. They passed the ball much better than we did, so they had all the options to hit. They have a very good volleyball team." Comets coach Leaf Jensen said his team's ball distribution got better as the match wore on. "I thought our passing was a little uneven at first," he said. "But when it really counted, we got it done. We played well under pressure." Roseburg jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first game, but Crater fought back with four unanswered points. In a seesaw battle, the score was tied seven times before Comet senior Brandi Hall's kill put Crater up, 15-14. Junior Audrey Hop served an ace to win the first game. Crater got out to a 3-0 lead in the second game, but a charge led by the blocking of 6-foot-3 middle Kristen Bitter helped the Indians pull within, 7-6. LeBel and outside hitter Addie Wiersma added key kills to build the Crater lead to 12-9, but Roseburg came back to within a point again. Crater served at 12-11. Crystal Huntley had a block and Kinney had her final kill to put Crater at match point. One more block from Huntley gave the Comets the victory. It was the first time Jensen had beaten the Indians in five seasons at Crater. "This was a huge win for us," Jensen said. "We have good athletes. It's always been about confidence. Today, we proved to ourselves we can do it." Kinney and LeBel each contributed 11 kills and Wiersma added six. Huntley had five blocks. Outside hitter Katie Kahn led the Indians with seven kills and Shannon Burmeister had four. Bitter ended the night with six blocks. Kinney was impressed with the Indians. "Their block is so huge," she said. "We have been working on sharp angles. We swung as hard as we could tonight - that's what got us through their block." On Thursday, Crater hosts struggling South Medford (4-7) and Roseburg travels to play winless Klamath Union. Kinney said the Comets are as confident as ever. "All we need to do is keep up our intensity and we can play anybody," she said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.