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Defense leads North past South By Don Hunt Booming serves, thunderous kills and in-your-face blocks may draw the most attention in volleyball. But defense wins. North Medford put on a defensive clinic in its match against South Medford Tuesday night in the North gym, and the result was a 15-8, 15-10 Black Tornado victory. The win improved North Medford to 3-0 in the Southern Oregon Conference, while South fell to 1-2. "We told the kids at the beginning of the season that defense wins the big matches, and tonight was an example of that," North Medford coach Ron Beick said. "We�ve probably spent 80 percent of our practice time working on defense. We�ve improved tremendously in that area since last season." The proof Tuesday came in serve receive, where North sent back 33 of 35 balls that came its way, or 94 percent. Senior outside hitter Kara Hwang registered 12 digs and senior setter Kaci Maldonado had eight to lead the Tornado defense. Hwang also set the tone offensively for North Medford, blasting three quick kills to give her team leads of 7-1 and 12-4 in Game 1. "We talked about coming out strong and putting power behind our hits," Beick said, "and Kara took that to heart. She put the ball to the floor on her first three swings." South Medford fought back behind the strong net play of outside hitter Karla Zenz and middle Kellie Thomas, who had a kill and two blocks as the Panthers rallied to within 13-8 in Game 1. But North regrouped, winning the game on an crosscourt kill by Jill Carrigan. The Panthers managed a 2-0 advantage in Game 2 on a kill by Crystal Glover and a serving ace by Sara Friend, but North tied the match at 3-3 and then went ahead for good on a kill by Hwang. South Medford hurt its cause by committing five service errors in the latter game. "We took some chances with our serves in an attempt to put pressure on their defense," South Medford coach Jerry Hagstrom said. "They�re such a good passing team that in order to beat them you�ve got to get them out of rhythm, but they executed well and made the plays." Junior middle Chaley Higgins paced the Tornado�s attack with six kills and three blocks. Senior middle Kendra Mitchell added five kills, junior middle Candace Fleener had four and Hwang and Carrigan chipped in three apiece. "We�ve got five significant hitters who can put the heat on and a setter (Maldonado) who gets them all involved," Beick said. "We�re very balanced offensively." Thomas had seven kills to lead South Medford, while Zenz had four and Carrie Doren three. Gina Alvis sparked the Panthers on defense, registering a couple of spectacular digs in Game 2. South Medford emerged from a difficult early-season schedule by upsetting Ashland and losing to Roseburg and North Medford � the top three teams in the SOC according to the preseason coaches poll. "We�re not in bad shape at all," Hagstrom said. "But now we�ve got to go beat the teams we�re supposed to beat." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA