By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
TURNER, Ore.– The Crosshill Christian Volleyball team wanted to make some noise in their inaugural season at the 2A Classification.
And they did more than just that. They quickly established themselves as a respected team in the division entering this Fall as they finished 2A State Runner-Up, falling to Salem Academy in the State Championship in straight sets after winning 74 consecutive sets over the course of 28 games.
“It definitely surprised us. We were not expecting to do that well in 2A,” starts Ellie Bartel.
“It definitely gave us motivation, especially for this year and showing us what we’re capable of,” adds Zoey Baker.
Going in the goals on the season where to get to the State Tournament, to win some hardware, and just to do more than to show up was the plan. But, it was about mid-to-late September when Head Coach Julie Bennett had to sit down with the team and reassess their goals for the year.
“Throughout the season, we just kept finding wins and wins, and then I was like, ‘I think we got more talent to go all the way’. And about Mid-September/Late September, we just kind of said, ‘we need to reset. We’re going for that Big Time’,” said Bennett. “And once we did that, the girls just took that on, and they took it on as this dream that they could accomplish.”
They finished the year 31-3 and now came back for this season with a target on their backs. Featuring five seniors in Hannah Dripps at setter, Sierra Poush and Bartel at Outside Hitter, Baker at Middle Blocker and Allison Koontz at Libero they’re anchoring a the squad with a little more depth with about ten girls compare to eight from last year, they’ve been shaking off the rust of the off-season with the jamboree on the horizon on Thursday at Blanchet Catholic.
“We’re just getting this element of it’s not going to come easy. So it’s the challenge of how we can pull up our players that are being challenged…the ones who have to help carry us, how can we encourage each other to do our best even when the pressure is on,” said Bennett. “So I’m putting the pressure on them early on at the beginning and doing it in a way where they can dig deep within themselves to be able to make their accomplishments.”
The Eagles will have their official first game of the year on Saturday, August 30, down at Cascade Christian as part of the Rogue X Tournament in Medford. Crosshill Christian’s first home game of the season will be on September 11 against Delphian.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
