By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
ST. PAUL, Ore.– The Crosshill Christian Volleyball team opened bracket play in the St. Paul Tournament Championship Bracket Saturday with a gritty 25-22- 25-14 win over North Lake as they reached the Championship Game against Crane later in the afternoon.
It’s been the attention to detail and overcoming hiccups in their serving and serve-receive to help them to a strong showing in the big Small-School tournament.
“This tournament has helped us immensely in how to take passes and how to grow from that. How we can better our overpasses, get a kill on other people’s overpasses. Taking those losses if we do lose and making it into something good,” starts Sierra Poush. “We love tight games. That’s how we grow, and we strive for going after every ball, fighting every point. This just helps us grow with our team and as individuals and get that perseverance to win.”
The Eagles defeated Umpqua Valley Christian in a 25-16, 25-23 sweep to advance to the Championship Game. It was their ninth-straight victory and was their 16th and 17th-straight sets win. Last year’s successes have carried over into this year, even against some tough challenges as they’ve faced on Saturday.
“Hands down the best thing for us to see this high level of play, to see teams who will rise to the occasion and they have the skills to do it, it’s going to help us build stamina, it’s going to help us build consistency and we’ll keep building competence,” said Crosshill Christian Head Coach Julie Bennett.
The set streak was snapped in the opening set against the Mustangs of Eastern Oregon, but Crosshill Christian rallied in the next two sets to take the Championship Title.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
