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PREP VB: Crater winds up fifth in 5A By Mail Tribune staff Updated: Nov 05, 2022 09:33 PM A A FOREST GROVE — There wasn’t much separating third-seeded Crater and No. 1 Wilsonville in Saturday’s third-place final in the Class 5A volleyball state tournament at Forest Grove High. Needing that little bit extra to finish off each set, however, the Comets were unable to collect those necessary match-defining points that so often fell the way of the Wildcats in what developed into a straight-set setback, 26-24, 25-22, 25-20. “Every game was close until the end,” said Crater head coach Leaf Jensen. “We’d hit 16 or 17 and then we would give up three points in a row and we just could never catch up from that deficit. Every game was like that. Everything was close to the end and they just kind of crept up on us. That’s what we’ve been doing to other teams all season, and they just kind of gave it back to us.” Kendra Bittle came through with 12 kills and six digs, Madison Kocina had six kills and Alexa Gugliotta added five kills and three blocks for the Comets (20-6), who settled for a fifth-place trophy. Crater could’ve easily found its way on the other end of the final scoreline but it wasn’t to be on this day. Bittle spiked a ball to pull even with Wilsonville (29-1) in the opening set at 24-all, only to see the Wildcats prevail on a long hit and crosscourt winner by Makenna Wiepert. In the second set, Crater led 22-21 before the Wildcats closed with four straight points, highlighted by a big block by Emma Alewine on a Bittle effort. The third set saw Crater close to within 21-20 on a perfectly placed tip by Gugliotta, but an Alewine spike and miscommunication among the Comets on who would play the ball after a Kocina block that allowed the ball to fall harmlessly to the court turned the tide. “There was never a timeout where we were panicky or anything,” said Jensen. “I just said, ‘Hey, we’re playing fine, we just are having little tiny lapses at the end of games and we just need to hang in there and hold on.’” “Part of it, I think, is we did not have too many challenges this season in conference,” he added of a 12-0 campaign built entirely on straight-set victories. “We just didn’t have a lot of those times where we were pushed at important parts of the match, and I think that just kind of bit us here in the end.” Kate Stidham provided 27 assists and five digs, while Joslyhn Pope added six digs for Crater. 6A STATE TOURNAMENT: At Forest Grove, South Medford senior Katie Clevenger supplied 18 kills, two blocks and two aces and Lola Horton had seven kills and one block but the Panthers fell to Roseburg in an elimination match and missed a shot at earning the program’s first state trophy. Sixth-seeded South Medford (23-8) had swept 10th-seeded Roseburg during the regular season, winning in five sets before earning a straight-sets victory, but in the third and most important meeting of the year, Roseburg was able to score a 25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-7 in the consolation semifinals. Mayen Akpan had five kills, two blocks and one ace and Brooke Johnston had six kills and one block for the Panthers, with Baylee Davis doling out 39 assists. Oregon City went on to beat Roseburg in the fourth-place final, 25-9, 25-21, 25-20. The Indians placed sixth. 3A STATE TOURNAMENT: At Springfield, St. Mary’s junior Emma Johnston had six kills and 13 digs and senior Kaitlyn Hansen collected 17 assists but the eighth-seeded Crusaders were unable to dig out of an early hole in falling to No. 4 Horizon Christian in four sets in the consolation semifinal, 25-18, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20. Maddie Ward had eight kills and two blocks and Albie Borovansky came up with 21 digs for St. Mary’s (19-7), which finished 0-2 at the 3A state tournament after making its first appearance since 2010. 1A STATE TOURNAMENT: At Redmond, Rogue Valley Adventist played to its seeding, placing fifth overall, after succumbing to No. 3 St. Paul in a hard-fought third-place final, 25-18, 25-20, 24-26, 30-28, at Ridgeview High. The Red Tail Hawks finished 23-3 overall, with two of those losses coming in the tournament. St. Paul wrapped up a 28-6 campaign. PHOTO BY: LARRY STAUTH JRCrater's Alexa Gugliotta (10) and teammate Kate Stidham (2), shown in action last week, played key roles in giving the Comets a chance to upend No. 1 Wilsonville on Saturday.