Document text
PREP VB: Crater completes perfect MWL season By Mail Tribune staff Oct 22, 2022 09:52 PM A A SPRINGFIELD — The Crater volleyball team ended Midwestern League play Saturday with the same number of sets dropped that it began with. Zero. With straight-set wins over Thurston and later Springfield, sixth-ranked Crater recorded its 11th and 12th MWL victories that didn’t need to go more than three sets. The Comets (18-4, 12-0 MWL), who clinched the MWL title earlier this week with a win over Eagle Point, beat Thurston 25-13, 25-18, 25-12 and topped Springfield in dominant fashion, 25-8, 25-6, 25-13. “We were pretty amped up for Thurston,” Crater head coach Leaf Jensen said. “We played really well, we were consistent, blocked well and the girls were really focused. We achieved our first goal of becoming conference champs, and then we wanted to finish league with no sets lost and we did that. We really played great all day.” Crater senior Kendra Bittle had 10 kills and eight digs against Thurston, then recorded 12 kills, 11 digs and four aces in the sweep of Springfield. Fellow senior Madison Kocina had 19 kills, 22 digs and four aces combined in the two matches. Kate Stidham filled up the statsheet against Thurston, recording 30 assists, 13 digs, three blocks and two kills. She followed it up with 39 assists and four aces against Springfield. Comets libero Joslyhn Pope had 27 digs and five aces on the day, while Alexa Gugliotta had eight kills against Springfield. Crater, which is ranked fourth in the OSAA power rankings, will open the Class 5A state playoffs Saturday. “You always want to peak this time of year and we’re really playing our best ball,” Jensen said. “Our defense has picked up, our libero (Joslyhn Pope) is playing out of her mind and it’s all just happening for us right now.” EAGLES SPLIT: At Thurston, Eagle Point was able to bounce back after losing in straight sets to Thurston and win the second half of its regular season-closing doubleheader with a sweep over Springfield. The Eagles (10-9, 6-6 MWL) lost 25-18, 25-13, 25-18 to the Colts to open the day before sweeping the Millers 25-20, 25-21, 25-20. Addison Holcomb finished with 32 kills — including 24 against Springfield — and 29 digs on the day, while Makynlee Schauffler had 65 assists combined in the two matches. Emma Kness finished with 19 kills and 55 digs, while Abbygail Trautman had 11 kills, 40 digs and four blocks and Megan Carr had 11 kills and four blocks. Alexandria Esquibel and Jaylinn Holte had 24 and 16 digs against Springfield, respectively, while Baylee Mullen finished with 11 kills. FWL PLAYOFFS: At Coquille, St. Mary’s was able to secure the Far West League’s top seed heading into the state playoffs with wins over Cascade Christian and then in the championship against Coquille. The Crusaders (18-5) played another five-set thriller against the rival Challengers, winning 21-25, 25-20, 14-25, 25-18, 15-12. St. Mary’s topped Coquille 25-10, 22-25, 25-23, 25-16. Cascade Christian (16-8) beat Douglas 25-16, 25-17, 26-24 before falling to St. Mary’s. Kelsey Dunn led the way with a combined 32 kills on the day, with 17 of those — as well as six blocks — coming against Coquille. Ada Bernard totaled 23 kills, while Emma Johnston had 12 kills against Cascade Christian. In the two matches, Kaitlyn Hansen recorded 78 assists and was a perfect 13-for-13 from the service line against the Challengers. Albie Borovansky finished with 26 digs and Noelle Thickett had 25 digs. Sydney Alexander had 11 digs against Coquille. Against Douglas, Cascade Christian’s Poppy Freeman had 17 kills, while Madison Todd had 16 kills and Ellie Harrington recorded 19 digs and four aces. Madison Todd recorded a career-high 26 kills to go with 14 digs and three aces, while Claire Knips added 11 kills and Harrington had 23 digs against the Crusaders. Freeman had 16 kills, while Molly Griffin finished with 84 assists on the day. Crater's Kendra Bittle, seen here earlier this season, and the Comets clinched a perfect 12-0 record in the Midwestern League with wins over Thurston and Springfield on Saturday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]