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PREP VB: Crater rolls past North Eugene By Danny Penza Updated: Sep 15, 2022 09:50 PM A A 5 View all photos Crater head coach Leaf Jensen knows full well that each time the Comets step onto the court, the defensive focus for their opponents starts with his two big outside hitters. Even then, it’s still tough to slow them down. Led by another big night from senior outside hitters Madison Kocina and Kendra Bittle, the Crater volleyball team rolled to a 25-12, 26-24, 25-15 win over North Eugene in Midwestern League action at Scenic Middle School Thursday night. “North Eugene’s primary outside hitter was injured and didn’t play tonight and we’re a size mismatch for every team in our conference, so we had them with a huge size mismatch,” said Jensen. “We just came out and played really well. We’ve been working on pushing our tempo and being a little quicker on offense, and we came out and passed really well and did everything we wanted.” The 6-foot-1 Kocina finished with a team-high 15 kills and 12 digs while adding two aces, while Bittle — who stands 6-2 — finished with 12 kills, eight digs and three aces to pace a Comets attack that came out fast against the short-handed Highlanders (7-4, 2-1 MWL). Bittle and Kocina combined for 19 kills in the Comets’ league-opening win over Ashland on Tuesday night. “Teams know who we’re going to set a good portion of our balls to,” said Jensen. “I have a 6-1 and a 6-2 outside hitter who are two incredibly good athletes. They’re just monsters out there. We’re working on getting our middles going more, but when you know the ball is coming, when you know they’re going to have a double block on you but they’re being as effective as they are is a credit to them.” The Comets (5-2, 2-0) fell behind 8-0 to begin the second set and were down 24-20 before rallying to record the final six points. The third and final set looked more like the first one, said Jensen, as the Comets were able to rediscover the early groove they had enjoyed. After North Eugene held a 5-4 lead, Crater was able to take control, building a 16-9 advantage after a pair of big kills by Bittle. “We couldn’t pass to save our lives and went into a rut, but we showed some guts there at the end,” said Jensen of the Comets’ second-set performance. “In the third game, we got rolling again. Our serve-receive got better, we started passing better, we got our tempo going and we fed our two monster outside hitters and they did a great job for us.” Crater senior setter Kate Stidham had 30 assists, 13 digs and a pair of aces, while sophomore Alexa Gugliotta added five kills and five aces. Fellow sophomore Callie Aplin recorded 16 digs. Crater has been playing its home matches at Scenic this season due to seismic retrofitting work at Crater High, which was originally scheduled to be completed in November but could now stretch into the new year. The Crater gym is “100% shut down,” according to Jensen. “I really feel for this group of seniors which had the last couple years of COVID and finally things are back to normal-ish and they don’t get to play in their home gym,” said Jensen, adding that he also coached the Comets’ current crop of seniors when they were eighth graders. “It’s tough.” NORTH MEDFORD 3, GRANTS PASS 2: North Medford pulled off a dramatic rally in Southwest Conference play, rebounding from a 2-0 deficit to claim the final three sets and initiate a frenzied celebration on the Grants Pass court. The Black Tornado won 23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-11. Senior Maddie Blake had 24 assists and five aces and sophomore Paije Carpenter added eight kills to lead North (4-3, 2-1 SWC), while Kristina Atonio finished with seven kills and Ella Empasis also had five aces. Defensively, Amy Kloek had 13 digs and Raegan Boice added 11 to spur the comeback. Grants Pass dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in conference. CHURCHILL 3, EAGLE POINT 0: At Eagle Point, Eagle Point’s Addison Holcomb and Emma Kness combined for 18 kills, but the Eagles dropped three tightly contested sets to Churchill, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23. Holcomb finished with a team-high 10 kills, while Kness added eight kills for the Eagles (2-2, 0-2 MWL). Eagle Point’s Makynlee Schauffler recorded 20 assists while Abby Trautman added 22 digs against Churchill (3-5, 1-1). MAZAMA 3, PHOENIX 0: At Phoenix, senior Makynna Nolan had 18 digs and six kills and Ami Safady added six kills and four blocks for Phoenix, which came on a little too late in dropping the Skyline Conference opener. Mazama (5-3, 1-0 Skyline) won 25-15, 25-18, 26-24. Morgan Miles was 100% from the service line and finished with five kills and eight digs for the Pirates (3-5, 0-1), while Isha Van Ness came on at libero and supplied some good passing to go with 10 digs. CASCADE CHRISTIAN 3, NORTH VALLEY 0: At Merlin, Cascade Christian sophomore Poppy Freeman supplied 11 kills and five aces and junior Madison Todd had eight kills to lead the Challengers to a straight-set Far West League victory, 25-14, 25-12, 25-23. Ellie Harrington added six aces and seven digs and Molly Griffin had 25 assists and three aces for Cascade Christian (4-4, 2-0 FWL), which made some lineup changes in the third set and fell behind 22-15 before rallying to preserve the sweep. ROGUE VALLEY ADVENTIST 3, TRINITY LUTHERAN 0: Rogue Valley Adventist senior Destinee Quattrocelli dished out 13 assists to go with two kills and two aces and Michaela Porter added three kills, three digs and three aces as the Red Tail Hawks remained unbeaten with a 25-13, 25-11, 25-18 home victory. Emma Bischoff tallied 13 kills, seven aces and two blocks for RVA (8-0, 4-0 MVL). The Red Tail Hawks technically still have not given up a varsity set, with the lone blemish coming when the JV squad took to the court against Milo Adventist Academy. Crater's Madison Kocina goes up for a hit and point against North Eugene Thursday in Central Point. Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune Crater's Kendra Bittle makes a hit for a point against North Eugene Thursday in Central Point. Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune Crater's Alexa Gugliotta makes a hit for a point against North Eugene Thursday in Central Point. Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune Crater's Madison Lanie Snow pushes the ball over the net for a point against North Eugene Thursday in Central Point. Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune Crater's Madison Lanie Snow and Kendra Bittle go up for a block against North Eugene Thursday in Central Point. Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune