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Prep roundup St. Mary's eliminated from volleyball tourney EUGENE -- St. Mary's high hopes of advancing in the Class 2A volleyball tournament ended abruptly Friday. The fourth-ranked Crusaders stumbled during a morning quarterfinal-loss to Oakridge, 15-11, 15-8, then were eliminated by No. 2 Vernonia, 15-7, 15-9. "We wanted to bounce back and have a better showing against Vernonia," St. Mary's coach James Joy said. "Oakridge was definitely beatable. We just couldn't get on the same page. We weren't communicating well and our passing went to pot because of that. We weren't mentally in that match." The Crusaders (20-5) played better against Vernonia, but couldn't overcome a big height disadvantage. "They were so huge," said Joy. "I don't think they had a kid under 6 feet on the front row the whole time. They blocked really well, and that was the biggest thing we had to overcome. There was a big block on us on every hit." Cheyenne Galedrige came up big for the Crusaders against Vernonia with a season-high 10 digs. "She was reading their hitters really well and she had some key saves on defense," said Joy. St. Mary's tried to overcome the Loggers' big front line by altering its offense. "We tried to hit around their block or use a softer shot, but they were able to pass it," said Joy. "We tipped a lot, too." Junior Maren Zielony led St. Mary's with six kills and eight digs, while Becky Naumes added six kills. Against Oakridge, the Crusaders missed six serves and compounded the problem with another half-dozen hitting errors. "We were able to pass the ball off their attack," said Joy, "but the problem was we weren't able to get our attack going." Setter Crystal Galedrige total of five assists was indicative of the Crusaders' difficulties. Naumes and Kristen Zielony had three kills each, while Maren Zielony provided 10 digs. Water polo ASHLAND BOYS, GIRLS LOSE -- At Corvallis, Ashland's boys and girls lost their openers in the state tournament at the Osborne Aquatic Center. The Ashland girls lost to Sunset 11-3. The Grizzlies play David Douglas, which lost to Beaverton, 11-9, in the consolation semifinals at 9:50 a.m. today. The Grizzly boys dropped a 13-9 decision to Newberg. Ashland faces Barlow, a 13-6 loser to Westview, in a consolation-round game at 8:40 a.m. today. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,