By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
ADAIR VILLAGE, Ore.– The Crosshill Christian Volleyball team just kept finding ways to win sets and pick up victories at the Santiam Christian Eagle Classic Tournament on Saturday.
They squeaked out a 27-25 set one victory over Santiam Christian in the Gold Bracket Quarterfinals, only to see the Eagles of Santiam Christian dominate set two. The Eagles of Crosshill edge out the 15-11, set three victory. From there, they rode that momentum into a 25-10 set one victory over another 3A opponent in Dayton before once again clutching up in the Tournament Semi’s to complete the two-set sweep of the Pirates with a 21-17 third set victory.
“We were just in the huddle, I just don’t know how we keep doing this, but they have the grit and the resilience and determination that comes, not just from an individual, but they gather and pick it up from one another,” said Crosshill Christian Head Coach Julie Bennett. “Our pool play was rough. Our pool play was hard, and yet when it comes down to it, they want to win, and they want to fight, and I’m so proud of them.”
The Eagle Classic always brings out the best out of the teams involved. A lot of the squads involved, mainly from the 2A-4A level, are playoff-caliber teams, and some will be contending for the State Title come November. It gives teams an opportunity to measure themselves up against competition and give them one more last test before the league and postseason playoffs ahead.
“We need to be challenged, and going into the last part of the season, this week we have Regis and Santiam, so we need to come in and ready to play. This is a great opportunity to just get ready for the end of the season,” said Delphian Head Coach Denise Dickey.
The Dragons, ranked fourth in 2A, entering the tournament on Saturday, defeated Catlin Gabel in three sets before falling to the top-ranked team in 3A in Westside Christian in straight-sets It showed them where they can improve on going into this next big week ahead of them.
“We need to move quicker and just play our game and play hard,” Dickey said of the tournament. “I told them, ‘don’t play not to lose, you have to play to win’. It was great, we loved it, I thought we had a good time.”
Dayton, despite their exit in the Tournament Semi’s, learned a lot about themselves. Especially in their opening two-set sweep over Coquille in the Tournament Quarterfinals where they battled to the 30-28, 25-23 victory over the Red Devils to reach the tournament Semi-Final round.
“It was awesome. The first set against Coquille, we were actually down a lot, and we had a lot of emotions on the court, and we had to come together in a timeout and really had to dig deep. I said, ‘we had to play as a team, to play as a family and for each other’ and it was back-and-forth, back-and-forth and we were able to pull it out with smart plays and consistent serving, it was awesome,” said Pirates Head Coach Samantha Alexander.
The Pirates return to PacWest Conference play Tuesday against Taft. The Dragons of Delphian will host Kennedy on Tuesday, and the Eagles, who finished second in the tournament after falling to Westside in straight sets, will host Monroe on Tuesday.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
