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PREP VB: Challengers focus in for big win By Mail Tribune staff Updated: Sep 29, 2022 09:34 PM A A Cascade Christian volleyball coach Rob Kleker and his team had a long talk Wednesday night about maintaining their focus during matches and taking care of the task at hand. It’s fair to say the Challengers got the message. Cascade Christian received 12 kills apiece from Poppy Freeman and Madison Todd and the Challengers didn’t allow visiting Glide the opportunity to build confidence in securing a straight-set win, 25-12, 25-11, 25-13, during Thursday’s key Far West League contest. “The kids came out fired up,” said Kleker. “They needed to prove to themselves that they were going to compete and at least try to be at the top of the standings when things ended, and they did that.” Cascade Christian (10-5, 5-1 FWL) and Glide (7-5, 4-2) had entered the night tied for second in the FWL. Molly Griffin dished out 32 assists and supplied three aces, while Julia Brehm had five kills, Todd added three aces and Sydney Shipman contributed five aces. Three of Shipman’s aces came during an eight-point run as Cascade turned a 9-7 lead in the second set into an eventual 25-11 win. “I’m hoping we’re finding a little bit of rhythm here,” said Kleker, whose team has won six straight and next plays in the Bear Creek Bash in Phoenix on Saturday. SOUTH MEDFORD 3, ROSEBURG 0: At Roseburg, No. 10-ranked South Medford was able to keep pace in the race for first place in the Southwest Conference, rolling to a 25-23, 25-14, 25-17 win. South senior Katie Clevenger had 14 kills, 15 digs and three blocks to lead the way for the Panthers (13-4, 6-1 SWC), who remained in a first-place tie with fifth-ranked Sheldon. Brooke Johnston had 10 kills and two aces and Naomi Johnson added five kills, three blocks and a pair of digs. Lola Horton chipped four kills in her first game back after sustaining an injury at last Saturday’s Rogue Valley Classic, while Mayen Akpan had three kills and two blocks. South setters Baylee Davis and Olivia Barber had 21 and 18 assists, respectively. Davis added seven aces and three digs while Barber had a pair of digs. NORTH MEDFORD 3, SOUTH EUGENE 1: After suffering a tough first-set loss, North Medford fired back to claim three straight sets and claim the Southwest Conference home victory, 27-29, 25-23, 25-18, 25-23. In the fourth set, South Eugene had an errant hitting attack to help the Black Tornado (7-7, 3-3 SWC) break a 23-all tie, then sophomore Makenzee Running came up with a dig and after a quick return set from Maddie Blake, Running sealed the victory with a kill. Running finished with 11 kills and Paije Carpenter had 10 kills, while Blake notched 23 assists. North also got a strong night in digs from Raegan Boice, Olivia Stubenrauch and Running. The Axe dropped to 6-8 overall and 2-4 in league. EAGLE POINT 3, GRANTS PASS 2: At Grants Pass, Eagle Point used an 8-0 run to separate in the deciding fifth set and claim a hard-fought nonleague victory, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 17-25, 15-6. The Eagles (5-5) broke open a 6-5 match when Baylee Mullen went back to the service line and used a kill by Addison Holcomb, a combined block by Abby Trautman and Makynlee Schauffler, and several hitting errors by the Cavers (3-8) to ultimately build a 14-5 lead. Trautman helped stamp the final surge with a blast into the GP block that ricocheted out of bounds. Holcomb finished with 22 digs and 12 kills, while Emma Kness had 17 digs and 12 kills for EP. Trautman had 20 digs, Schauffler supplied 33 assists, Jaylinn Holte had 14 digs and Mullen added 11 kills. ST. MARY’S 3, BROOKINGS-HARBOR 0: St. Mary’s senior Albie Borovansky was 24-for-24 from the service line with three aces to go with a team-high 13 digs as the Crusaders eased to a Far west League victory, 25-10, 25-20, 25-9. Kelsey Dunn paced St. Mary’s (7-5, 4-1 FWL) with 13 kills and five blocks at the net and collected three of the Crusaders’ 13 aces overall. Kaitlyn Hansen had 28 assists and seven digs and Noelle Thickett came up with eight digs. ROGUE VALLEY ADVENTIST 3, CROSSPOINT CHRISTIAN 0: Rogue Valley Adventist senior Emma Bischoff had 10 kills, three assists, three blocks and three digs to help set the tone in a 25-9, 25-15, 25-12 Mountain Valley League victory. Destinee Quattrocelli chipped in with 14 assits, five aces and eight digs for the No. 4-ranked Red Tail Hawks (13-1, 8-0 MVL). Isabell Zamora continued her strong week with 10 kills, seven digs and two aces, while Michaela Porter had seven kills and three digs and Naomi Jackson doled out 12 assists. volleyball.jpg