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Grizzly netters wait to pounce Prep Notebook By GREG STILES he waiting game is on for the Ashland volleyball team. The Grizzlies capped a perfect run to their first Southern Oregon Conference championship since 1994 with a win last Thursday at Roseburg, but won't open play in the Class 4A state tournament against Hermiston until Friday morning. So the fourth-ranked Grizzlies are biding their time this week while the field is pared down to 16 teams for the weekend tournament at the University of Portland's Chiles Center. "It's longer than we've gone between playing matches all year," says Ashland coach Josh Rolfing. "Going from 2 1/2 days to eight days in between is a pretty long time." But the layoff has its advantages. Senior outside hitter Chelsea Johnson saw her prep career come to an end against Roseburg with an ankle injury. "She landed on someone else's foot and rolled her ankle," Rolfing says. "She had a chip fracture and tore some ligaments in her left ankle. "It was tough to see someone so mentally tough and such a strong person not be able to stand up. She's kept us in some big games with her serving and defense." The injury happened early in the third game and gave the Grizzlies a chance to use the altered line-up they'll use in the tournament. Junior Leslea Brown has moved over from the right side to fill Johnson's spot and junior Heidi Lawrence is stepping in on the right side. "It was nice to get Leslea some swings and Heidi gives us a big block," Rolfing says. "The way I look at it is that we set ourselves up in practice to fill spots, by putting different players in different situations and we'll be able to patch it up OK." What can't be replaced, the coach says, is Johnson's leadership on the floor. But this is a team that has earned its ranking by handing Mount Hood Conference champion Central Catholic its only two losses all season. It's not beyond the realm of possibility for the Grizzlies to become the first SOC team to win a state championship. Ashland made it to the finals of the South Albany tournament before losing to No. 3 West Linn and then top-ranked Barlow in the Clearwater Classic finals at Bend. The Mount Hood Conference has produced 12 of the past 13 state champions. The Mount Hood's runner-up is ranked No. 1 heading into the tournament. Barlow will most likely meet defending state champion West Linn in the quarterfinals. If Ashland reaches the semifinals it would play the Barlow-West Linn survivor and have a decent shot to advance. If such talk sounds far-fetched for a team that bowed out in the first round of the 1998 playoffs, it doesn't faze the Grizzlies. "We've had potential and I definitely think we'll go out and fulfill that potential," says Lawrence. "Our team meshes together so well." The nucleus of the team -- setter Chelsea Morgan, Loriana Berman, Amy Williams and Rachel Karlin -- have been together for three years. And even though Ashland hasn't won a playoff game since 1994, the Grizzlies are primed for an impressive performance this weekend. Rohlfing chuckles as he recalls a television interviewer asking why Ashland got so good all of the sudden. "I think we've been good for a few years," he says. "I think everyone else is seeing things a little differently and the girls are responding because other people are telling them. I think it comes along with maturity and confidence. The more you win, the more confidence you have." BACK ON TRACK -- St. Mary's senior Martina Patella, the 1997 Class 2A state cross country champion, isn't guaranteeing she'll duplicate the feat in Saturday's state meet. But Patella hopes to improve on last year's 14th-place finish. A stress fracture was discovered in her left hip last fall and she had little training time prior to the district and state meets. "It appeared the first day of school," says Patella. "I just hadn't been running very long before state last year." She rebounded to place fifth in the 3,000 finals at the state track meet in May. But Patella says she hasn't run her best races on the track. Patella ran well during the fall, but got sick two days before last Thursday's district meet in Roseburg. "I got the stomach flu and felt like I was going to die," Patella says. Still, Patella went out strong in the district meet with freshman teammate Leah Sawyer, the eventual winner. "I was really disappointed," Patella says. "The first mile-and-a-half I was thinking this should be a cake race. But after a mile-and-a-half there was nothing left in me. I was disappointed." With a week to regain her strength, Patella will give it her best shot Saturday. She doesn't consider herself, nor any particular runner the favorite. "My goal is to run a good, smart race," she says. "I'm definitely not going to go out blazing fast and be a superhero. I have a habit of doing that. "I'd love to be on the leader's shoulder with a mile to go or at least be within 10 or 20 yards." KNEE INJURY -- South Eugene's chances of winning back-to-back Class 4A state girls basketball championships took a crushing blow last week when Megan Nelson suffered a knee injury in a 1-0 soccer loss against Sheldon. Nelson was an all-state and all-tournament selection for the Axemen and earlier announced she had accepted a basketball scholarship from Santa Clara. (Greg Stiles is a Mail Tribune sports writer. He can be reached at 776-4483 or [email protected] ) Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.