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A Black Tornado sweep By Greg Stiles North Medford wrapped up its fourth Southern Oregon Conference volleyball championship in six years, Thursday night, struggling early then coming on strong. North owned both conference and tournament wins over Roseburg and had been in first place from Day 1. Yet, the No. 4 Black Tornado could�ve seen everything it had worked for vanish on one bad night. The Tornado limited the damage to one off game as it battled to a 14-16, 15-2, 15-9 triumph over the Indians. It was a different scene than a year ago, when Roseburg tied the Tornado for third place in the conference, then won a playoff match that cost North a home playoff match. "We�ve changed and we�re mentally mature now," said senior Kendra Mitchell. "We�re not just going for big plays. We went all out and played our hearts out tonight. There were a few times today we thought about what�s going to happen if we didn�t win. We knew they were going to play hard, but deep down, we knew we were going to win." The victory left North 14-0 in the SOC and 23-1 on the season, while Roseburg dropped to 12-2. With the championship in hand, North�s next match will be Nov. 10 in the state tournament at the University of Portland�s Chiles Center. Roseburg can earn a spot in the tourney by winning a third-round sub-tournament playoff match at home on Nov. 3. "We came in fired up and pretty confident," said Roseburg outside hitter Megan Morley. "We didn�t want to do anything too fancy." Roseburg jumped in front 7-2 in the first game, then saw North ride Mitchell�s serving to a 9-8 lead. Then staved off the Tornado after a pair of Mitchell aces made it 14-10. Roseburg then scored the next six points as Lacy Fullerton tipped for a kill to tie it at 14-all, then sliced a kill that dropped on the line to make it 15-14. North had two more chances at the service line but failed to convert before Morley�s kill clinched the game. Even though Roseburg took the opening round, the momentum swung to North when Kara Hwang�s dig cleared the net and dropped undetected by Roseburg defenders when the Tribe led 15-14. "We missed some serves that allowed them to stay close," North Medford coach Ron Beick said. "We�ve been working on serving tough since we played Gresham (at the Clearwater Classic in Bend). We�ve got to get smarter and know when to risk and not to take a risk. In the long run, it pays off." Beick also noted that his team�s passing was such in the early going that Morley got her hands on the ball. "One of our goals was not to let that happen," Beick said. But the Tornado had things going its way from the start of the second game. Hwang stepped to the line and reeled off eight straight points to give North a 9-0 advantage. Two rotations later, Candace Fleener went to the line with a 10-2 lead and served four straight points. Chaley Higgins had two kills in the sequence and Jill Carrigan�s kill made it 14-2. Moments later, Carrigan served the final point. Roseburg led the third game 6-4 after Fullerton nailed the last of her six kills. Then Hwang delivered two kills and a pair of blocks with Carrigan serving, and North took a 10-8 advantage. Roseburg closed to 10-8, but Mitchell and Fleener teamed for a pair of stuff blocks and a 12-8 advantage. Two rotations later, Mitchell served the final three points with Higgins getting a kill followed by two aces. "By the middle of the first game, we were settling down," Hwang said. "There was a lot of excitement and adrenalin and that worked against us. But by the middle of the first game, we were in control." Morley had nine kills to lead Roseburg, and Shannon Burmeister and Fullerton had six each. "We knew the scenario," Roseburg coach Bruce Myers said. "We had everything to gain and nothing to lose. We�ve played at the level we did in the first game several times this season. It�s a matter of carrying things over from the first game." Carrigan topped North with 12 kills and six digs. Mitchell added six kills, six digs, six aces and nine blocks. Fleener had six blocks, Hwang had five kills and 10 digs, Higgins eight kills and three blocks and Kaci Maldonado had 26 assists. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.