By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
MILL CITY, Ore.– The Santiam Volleyball team faced a gauntlet right out of the gate, taking on the defending 2A State Champions and the teams that finished second in Crosshill Christian and Clatskanie all within the first week of the season.
Their Tri-River Conference matchup with Regis on September 13, however, proved to be an eye-opener for the Wolverines. Following a five-set loss to the Rams at home, the Wolverines found themselves at 1-4 on the season, but remained optimistic about where they stood.
“Our schedule at the start was tough. We were going up against some big teams and to realize that we can still compete with everybody, I think boosted us up. In that game against Regis, we just wanted to get better after that and I think it lit a fire underneath us honestly,” said Santiam Head Coach Alicia Boyd.
Since that game with Regis, the Wolverines have wheeled off four wins in their last five games to pull even, sitting at 5-5 on the year, including Wednesday’s 25-12, 25-18, 25-12 sweep of Western Christian. It was a strong game by the Wolverines, who shook off an early first set lull to finish the opening set on a 10-1 run before jumping out to a 10-4 lead during the second set. The Pioneers chipped away at the deficit, pulling within two at 16-14 and staying right there with Santiam over the next few points before the Wolverines closed out the second set, 25-18.
Santiam found answers by locking down when they needed to behind hitting and communicating well. And everything just flowed that much better in that final set of the night. Santiam scored 16 of the first 19 points of the third set, taking a 16-3 lead and didn’t look back to close out the three-set match at home.
“Our communication was great. Coach told us to hit and swing at the ball, stop tipping at everything. That’s all that went into it, our serves were great too,” said the Wolverines’ Kaydence Vandagriff.
With how league is this year, with Regis defeating St. Paul earlier in September, to Western Christian taking a set from Regis, you can’t take anyone lightly. And that’s what Santiam is taking to heart as they enter their game at Delphian on Thursday sitting 3-1 in league and driven to get back to the TRC League Title Game once more here in a few weeks.
“We’re not taking anybody lightly. Everyone in league, they want this so we got to come out swinging all the time and never let up. We showed that tonight,” said Boyd. “We worked as a team and everyone did their job. Everyone showed up, everyone did their job, the passing was great. Our set’s are there, our hits are there. It’s showing up every single game.”
First serve in Sheridan against Delphian is scheduled for 6:30pm. Santiam returns home on Monday against St. Paul.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
