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Phoenix bumps off Rogue River PHOENIX � Serving and defense have carried the Phoenix High volleyball team to a lot of victories the past two seasons. Now the Pirates have a potent offense to go with it. Senior outside hitter Sutton Jackson registered 10 kills on Thursday night as the Pirates posted a 15-11, 15-3 Skyline Conference victory over Rogue River. "It�s nice to be able to attack the other team and put people away," Phoenix coach Tom Murphy said. "We haven�t had that luxury in the past." Senior defensive specialist April Darby led the Pirates� defensive effort with eight digs, while sophomore setter Kelsey Russell was 11-for-11 serving and had 25 assists. Russell also smashed a pair of aces. Phoenix trailed 5-1 in Game 1 but slowly worked its way back. Jennifer Dunlap served the 13th and 14th points and Joni Mahon served the final point. Phoenix also fell behind 3-0 in Game 2 but Jackson came through with seven kills and the Pirates got hot at the service line. The victory improved the Pirates to 5-1 in Skyline play and 10-2 overall. "We�re playing real well right now but we�ve got some tough matches head," Murphy said. The Pirates open against Marist in the Hidden Valley tournament on Saturday and then face Lakeview on Tuesday. Those two teams were tied for No. 1 in the Class 3A state rankings last week. LAKEVIEW 15-15, HIDDEN VALLEY 2-1 � At Lakeview, senior Jacque Johnson was 10-for-10 at the service line to go along with three aces as Lakeview rolled to an easy Skyline Conference win. The Honkers, ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 3A, bounced back from their first loss of the season on Tuesday to Henley. Lakeview improved to 20-1 overall and 5-1 in conference play. HENLEY 15-15, NORTH VALLEY 2-9 � At Merlin, Whitney Coston had three kills for North Valley but it wasn�t enough as Henley overwhelmed the Knights in a Skyline Conference matchup. North Valley fought back to even the score at seven in Game 2 but the sixth-ranked Hornets pulled away with six unanswered points. Megan Coston had two aces for North Valley, which dropped to 2-4 in conference play. Southern Cascade League ST. MARYS 15-15, GILCHRIST 4-4 � At Gilchrist, St. Mary�s defense limited Gilchrist to one kill as the Crusaders stormed to their third SCL win in four games. Lani Brophy led St. Marys with 16 assists in 30 attempts while sophomore Libby Trum had seven kills in nine attempts and served out nine straight points in Game 2 to close out the match. As a team, the second-ranked Crusaders (12-3, 3-0 SCL) had 10 aces and were 90 percent in serving. CHILOQUIN 9-15-15, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 15-13-10 � At Chiloquin, Michelle Gambino had seven kills and five blocks to lead Chiloquin to a hard-fought victory over Cascade Christian. Gambino and Marla Chappell each came up with kills to break open a 12-all game in the second contest and Chiloquin coasted to a Game 3 win to close out the match. Riley Childers added five kills and three blocks while Chappell had six kills for Chiloquin. 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