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Black Tornado tops Panthers Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman North Medford�s Jenna Siebenlist returns the ball during the second game of the Black Tornado�s match against South Medford. By FRANK SILOW North Medford seems to bring the worst out of South Medford in Southern Oregon Conference volleyball. The Black Tornado played its best match of the year, while the Panthers turned in their poorest performance of the season Thursday at the North gym. Thus, in just 27 minutes North Medford registered a 15-2, 15-3 victory over its in-town rival. The victory raises North�s record to 5-5 in the SOC and breaks a fourth-place tie with Grants Pass (4-6), which dropped a three-game match to Crater Thursday. South Medford fell to 3-7 in conference. The Panthers will probably have to win its final four matches to stand any chance of advancing to the postseason. "We�ve never played so badly," South Medford coach Jerry Hagstrom said. "I don�t want to take anything away from North, but we never put up a fight." In the first game, South went through its entire rotation before scoring its first point. By that time, North Medford built an 11-0 lead. The Panthers� offense was constantly in disarray because of poor passing. When South did attack well, North�s defense responded effectively. "North was efficient and didn�t make mistakes," said a bewildered Hagstrom, whose team has played well on the road. "We had nothing to lose, but we played like we had everything to lose. Our collars got real tight." North Medford senior middle Chaley Higgins, who created problems at the net for South, served points 4 through 8 and 13 and 14 in Game 1. The Black Tornado ended the opening game with its next serve on Amy Bakker�s kill. "We were ready to play," said Higgins. "There�s lots of emotion in the North-South rivalry. We wanted to come out strong and be consistent. Our digs and passing were great tonight." The opening serve of the second game was indicative of the Panthers� night. Michelle Chancler pounded a tough serve which had North scrambling. The Tornado barely got the ball over on its third hit, but the confused South Medford players failed to get the ball back. Then senior Krystal Young reeled off seven straight points for the Black Tornado. Most of them came at the expense of South Medford errors. After South�s Stephanie Anderburg served three straight points, Bakker got hot from the service line. The North Medford senior outside hitter scored points 8-14. "I was trying to serve tough and keep them out of their offense," said Bakker. "I just tried to pick on one person because it�s a mental game." Bakker�s run ended when she served match point into the net, but it didn�t take North long to complete the victory. Senior Tara Siebenlist � just North�s third server in Game 2 � came off the bench for the final point. South�s Amanda Cox made a diving save on a North attack on the second match point. Cox got the ball back on a set, but her kill shot hit the antennae at the side of the net to end the match. "This was our best match of the season," North Medford coach Ron Beick said. "We had intensity, consistency and didn�t make many unforced errors." The Black Tornado missed only three serves and committed five hitting errors in the match. Because of the numerous South Medford errors, Bakker and Higgins led North�s front-line with a modest three kills each. Black Tornado setter Candace Flenner added four kills on dumps and 11 assists. "We really clicked as a team tonight," said Fleener, who was celebrating her 17th birthday. "We want to show we�re a better team than we�ve played the first half of the season." Beick said the 6-foot Fleener provided North an added dimension at the net to go with an effective job setting by distributing the ball. "They didn�t know where she was going to go," said Beick. "It kept their defense off-balance." North�s defense was sparked by Stacey Casebier with 10 digs and Bakker with seven. "We moved well to the ball and dug it," said Beick. "We had a couple of blocks early. It forced their hitters to choose different shots than they�re used to. We kept them out of their offense. They had to run a lot of down balls, which are easy for us to pass and make our offense work." In short, just about everything worked for the Black Tornado and very little for South. That was the formula for the North Medford�s decisive victory. Reach reporter Frank Silow at 776-4480, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.