By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
DAYTON, Ore.– The Dayton Pirates Volleyball team are gearing up for what they are hoping to be another strong season.
Last year was the best season for Dayton in 20-plus years record wise and their fifth-place finish was their best finish in 30-plus years. They’re expecting to return six core players players with a handful of those core players wrapping up their club seasons.
“(Gabby Chupp) got the All-American award at her AAU tournament, which is awesome. She’s playing softball in another tournament right now,” starts Dayton Head Coach Samantha Alexander. “That’s the hard thing about summer, the girls play club volleyball and Nationals just ended so Kalysta Summerlin and Kadence Fuller went to Nationals together. So just giving opportunities for the girls who are done with their sports to come out and play and just waiting for everyone else to finishing playing so we can get back working as a team.”
Alexander admits there was pressure stepping into the program last season after taking over for Megan Webster, who guided Dayton to the Elite Eight in 2024. But she also knows the expectations remain just as high entering Year 2 as she looks to keep the program’s upward trajectory going.
“Megan really laid the foundation. A lot of the work came from her, so I appreciate that and I got big shoes to fill trying to keep what she had in place going and trying to prove to myself, to the girls and to the town that we’re a solid team and we’ll continue to be a solid program,” said Alexander. “Last season was a big adjustment for the girls with me coming in, nobody knew who I was. It was a big learning curve, so I’m hoping that this year goes smoother in that perspective and just the hit the ground running and get to work.”
The Pirates are planning to do a four-day Team Camp going into the Fall season. Dayton will open the season with a jamboree at Blanchet Catholic before kicking off the season August 29 at the Cascade Christian Tournament in Medford.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
