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North staves off early exit By Greg Stiles PORTLAND � The emotional letdown can be as big of an opponent as the team on the other side of the net when you suffer a disappointing loss in the first round of a state tournament. North Medford was up against both elements Friday night at the Class 4A state volleyball tournament at the Chiles Center. After dropping a 15-11, 15-11 decision to third-ranked Gresham earlier in the day, the Black Tornado nearly saw its season end a day earlier than planned. But the fourth-ranked Southern Oregon Conference champion persisted to earn a 15-13, 12-15, 15-2 consolation quarterfinal victory over Portland Interscholastic League champion Benson. North plays No. 8 West Linn at 10:30 this morning in the consolation semifinals. The Lions eliminated Forest Grove, 15-8, 15-8. "We were really disappointed," said senior outside hitter Kara Hwang. "But we came here to play four games no matter what happened. We played well against Gresham, but we didn�t sustain that level against Benson. Luckily, we came out with a win. We plan to come home with a trophy." The top six teams earn trophies. Emily Marquez, the only player taller than 5-foot-9 for Benson at 5-11, gave North fits at times. But ultimately, the Tornado slammed the door as its serves and attacks began finding their marks. "We started playing not to lose instead of playing to win," said senior setter Kaci Maldonado. "Finally, we figured it out. We just wanted it more than they did." Hwang paced the Tornado with 14 kills and 12 digs, Jill Carrigan added 13 kills and 11 digs, Kendra Mitchell chipped in 11 kills and five blocks and Maldonado had 42 assists and 11 digs. "I think any coach should take the brunt for the team for not being ready," North Medford coach Ron Beick said, "although we discussed that scenario. But talking about it doesn�t necessarily make it happen. We spent two weeks preparing for Gresham, and the amount of unforced errors we had against Benson indicates the mental strain." Against the latter, North quickly moved to a 5-0 lead in the first game before losing its way. Before long, the Techsters went ahead 12-11 when Denetia Carline served two points. "It would�ve been nice to come out and clean their clocks," Hwang said. "But we didn�t do that." When Benson took an 8-2 lead in the second game, North found itself making matters worse with its own miscues. After Mitchell and Fleener combined to stuff Mari Nelson to give North a 12-11 lead, Benson scored the final four points to force a third game. "I think when we saw the size of their players, we had a letdown," Beick said. "They almost learned a pretty painful lesson." Higgins made some key blocks as North took control early of Game 3. Then Tara Siebenlist served four points to open up a 10-2 advantage and the Tornado was en route to surviving another day. "(Benson) got a little tired in the third game," Beick said, "and we stepped out of our complacency." Beick had hoped for a three-game match against Mount Hood Conference power Gresham. He got two. But it wasn�t until the second game that the Tornado showed its stuff when Maldonado reeled off seven straight points to give North its lone lead of the match, 12-11. "We took a timeout and talked about how bad this game was going and we couldn�t let it go any further," said Gresham sophomore Abby Windell middle blocker. "They blocked really well and were beating us in the middle." But a back-row kill by Sarah Leenders stopped North�s run, and the Gophers regained the lead, 12-11, with Katie O�Neil serving a pair of aces. "If we side out at 11-9, we�re able to go on and force Game 3," Beick said. "But we shanked three passes. We had them on the ropes. When they get the lead back that quickly, they�re able to go back into their power mode." Mitchell downed a kill to stop it at a one-point deficit, but Leenders got the serve right back for the Gophers. Windell then served the final three points. "Once we get up, we just want to grab the ball and make serves," Windell said. "(North�s) not a team that you can lay back on." The Tornado played a lot of catch-up against the Gophers in the first game. When Lauren Karpstein mashed back-to-back kills and O�Neill added another from the back row, Gresham was up 14-8. To that moment, North hadn�t put together two straight points. But with Mitchell serving, Carrigan registered a kill, followed by an ace and a kill by Candace Fleener. North was within 14-11, but couldn�t go any further. Carrigan pounded seven kills for the Tornado, Mitchell notched six kills and four blocks, Higgins added six kills, Siebenlist had six digs and Hwang five. ROSEBURG FALLS IN QUARTERS � No. 9 Roseburg advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1987 when the Indians whisked past Intermountain Conference champion Crook County, 15-7, 15-9 in its opening match Friday. The Indians lost in the quarters to Jesuit, 15-5, 15-6. Senior outside hitter Megan Morley collected nine kills in 28 attacks and had seven digs to pace Roseburg, while senior middle blocker Lacy Fullerton added four more. Right-side hitter Kristen Bitter, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, chalked up nine blocks, and junior middle blocker Shannon Burmeister had five blocks and three kills. "Kristen Bitter did a great job of neutralizing (Kaki McLean), their best outside hitter," Roseburg coach Bruce Myers said. Roseburg, however, didn�t fare nearly as well against No. 5 Jesuit. Metro League player of the year Julie Grauert hammered down 12 kills as the Crusaders rolled. Roseburg plays McNary, a 15-0, 15-8, loser to Barlow, at noon today in the fourth-place semifinals. 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