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North Medford streaks past Panthers Photo by Bob Pennell North's Kendra Mitchell, right, spikes a shot around the block of Carrie Doren as Candace Fleener looks on. Tornado prevails for 27th time in history of rivalry By GREG STILES The streak lives on -- by a matter of inches. From the time Medford High divided into North and South in 1986, the Black Tornado has won every volleyball match between the schools. That's 27 and counting. South has pushed North to three games a couple of times, but this one had breakthrough written all over it. Unlike the past couple of seasons when the Tornado was jostling every weekend for the top ranking in the state, the Medford schools entered with identical 3-3 Southern Oregon Conference records. South roared off to a 15-1 win in the first game, North evened things with a 15-5 win in the second. Both teams took their best shot with the match on the line before North emerged a 16-14 winner. "I was thinking, `We can't lose this one,"' said junior outside hitter Jill Carrigan. "It made us so mad that they beat us that bad. We had to come out and show people what we're made of." The victory gave North sole possession of the fourth place at the end of the first round of SOC play, while South dropped to fifth. Had Carrie Doren's serve bit a little harder, the Panthers would've taken the finale 15-10 -- end of match, end of streak. "I told the girls they had a chance to make history," second-year South Medford coach Jerry Hagstrom said. "Carrie's shot on the baseline couldn't have been more than two inches off." Given another chance, Carrigan and middle hitter Kendra Mitchell pounded the Panthers into submission as the Tornado whirled in front, 15-14. After Doren momentarily halted the bleeding, Mitchell got a sideout and Carrigan put away the biggest point of her career on the next play. "At the end, Kendra and Jill both stepped up," North coach Ron Beick said. "They're both learning to have faith in themselves and having it when the game is on the line. They kept swinging away. That was a huge step for them." The first game might have been South's finest moment in the series. With the Panthers leading 3-1, Lynn Wooton stepped to the line and served 12 straight points, including four aces. Sarah Peterson, who racked up 10 kills for the Panthers, and setter Megan Barry were instrumental in the run as well. "I never expected that," Hagstrom said. "I had to remind our players that it wasn't going to happen again. When you lose a game like that, you can collapse. But a team like North has too much character and I knew they'd come back." But not all at once. First, Barry and Crystal Glover continued South's run to 15 straight points as the Panthers took a 3-0 advantage in the second game. However, Doren limped off the floor and missed the rest of the second game. "She's our strongest middle and we really don't have a back up," Wooton said. "She made a couple of blocks in the third game and that was awesome." Bit by bit, North regrouped, going on a 9-0 run to take a 9-3 advantage. Leading 11-4, Helen Williams served the final four points with Mitchell stuffing a South attack to force a third game. "We were really slow getting to the ball in the first game," Mitchell said. "It was totally embarrassing. We were tipping the ball and weren't very aggressive." Kaci Maldonado, who had 23 assists and nine digs, served four points to give North an 8-5 lead in the third game. But South came right back with Annie Hoffmeier serving to go in front 10-8. North pulled to within 11-10 with Sara Boyd serving. Then South's Karla Zenz downed two kills and Kellie Thomas another to make it 14-11. An exchange of sideouts gave Doren a chance to put it away. It was close, but South will have to wait until Oct. 28 to try to end the streak. "We'll have another shot at them," Hagstrom said, "and it will be even sweeter if we take it there in a hostile atmosphere." Wooton finished with seven kills, four aces and four digs for South, Hoffmeier added eight digs and Glover seven. Carrigan had 10 kills, four digs and three aces for North, Mitchell had seven kills four blocks and three digs, while Hwang had eight kills. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.