A8 The SpokeSman • TueSday, SepTember 20, 2022
Sports+Outdoors
VOLLEYBALL
Doubleheaders the new norm for the IMC
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
CO Media Group
REDMOND — Three teams
each playing two league matches
in one night at one venue is the
new normal for high school vol-
leyball as the official shortage
continues to be an issue across
all sports in the state.
For volleyball junkies, it is
a chance to see three matches
with league-standing and play-
off implications in one gym and
one evening. For those compet-
ing on the court, it is a bit like
tournament play, only instead
of playing matches that can go
three sets maximum, the league
matches can last five sets.
“I was a little intimidated at
the thought of doing possibly
10 sets in one night,” said Rid-
geview senior Madie Vaughn.
“But most teams are condi-
tioned to play in tournaments.
It felt like a tournament in that
way. So we are used to push-
ing and going harder. Maybe a
10-set night would be a little in-
tense, but I think it is doable.”
Intermountain Conference
play kicked off Wednesday
night with Bend, Mountain
View and Redmond squaring
off at Bend High, while Cal-
dera, Summit and Ridgeview
played on the Ravens’ home
court. That is going to be com-
mon practice for most league
and nontournament matches
this fall.
The headliner of the IMC dou-
bleheader in Redmond was Sum-
mit vs. Ridgeview, who entered
the matchup as two of the top 10
teams in the OSAA coaches poll,
with Summit ranked No. 8 and
Ridgeview No. 10.
After beating Caldera 3-0
(25-12, 25-22, 25-14) in their
first match of the evening, the
Ravens took control of their sec-
ond match in the third set to de-
feat Summit 3-1 (25-22, 20-25,
25-20, 25-16) and cap the night
with a dog-pile on the court af-
ter the match-winning point.
“That was my favorite win
ever. It was the best connection
I’ve ever had on a volleyball
team,” Vaughn said.
“I feel like that is the most
that has ever come together. I
feel like you see a team that can
hit big, can block big and you
get down on yourself. But this
team, we don’t care. We play
for each other and we don’t put
ourselves down because they
know it’s not good for the team.”
It would have been all too
ryan brennecke/The bulletin
Ridgeview’s Ellie Owen (7) returns a serve while playing Caldera at Rid-
geview on Wednesday night.
ryan brennecke/The bulletin
ryan brennecke/The bulletin
Ridgeview’s Madie Vaughn (8) hits the ball over the net during the third set against Caldera in Redmond on
Wednesday night.
“I was a little intimidated at the thought of doing possibly 10 sets in one night. But most
teams are conditioned to play in tournaments. It felt like a tournament in that way. So we
are used to pushing and going harder. Maybe a 10-set night would be a little intense, but I
think it is doable.”
— Madie Vaughn, Ridgeview volleyball player
easy for Ridgeview to fold
against Summit. After the two
teams traded wins in the first
two sets, the Storm jumped out
to an early 9-2 lead in the third
set.
Then the Ravens slowly began
chipping away at the lead. They
finally tied it 16-16, then took
their first lead at 18-17. After
being down seven points, Rid-
geview closed out the third set
on a 23-11 run to win it 25-20.
Going into the fourth set,
all the momentum was on the
Ravens’ side and they beat the
Storm 25-16 to win the match.
“They went out there and
took care of business,” said Rid-
geview coach Kurtis Bower.
“They just had so much fire,
that is what you are looking for,
to play with so much energy.”
Summit made quick work
of Caldera, winning in straight
sets (25-9, 25-9, 25-8), but was
unable to maintain momentum
after a 16-minute break between
matches.
Five of the Storm’s six losses
this season have come against
6A opponents. Summit is still
seen as a threat in the IMC, but
is still finding itself and learn-
ing to trust one another on the
court, according to Summit
coach Emily McMahon.
“I feel like we are a really,
really good team with some
Caldera’s Akela Utu (14) hits the ball over the net while playing Rid-
geview in Redmond on Wednesday night.
high-caliber players,” McMa-
hon said. “I feel like Ridgeview
was more scrappy than us and I
think that we got tired. And that
is a new thing because we aren’t
used to (back-to-back matches
that could go five sets).”
Caldera, Bend’s newest
school, is having a challeng-
ing start to the volleyball sea-
son, winning only one of its 10
matches. The Wolfpack nearly
stole the second set Wednesday
night against Ridgeview after
leading for most of the set, but
was unable to close it out.
The goal now for the Wolf-
pack in its first varsity season
(and without a senior class) is to
find ways to improve that might
not show up in its record or
conference standings.
Caldera is playing in a loaded
conference with three teams
that have combined to win four
of the last six 5A volleyball state
titles — Summit in 2015, Bend
in 2016 and 2017, and Rid-
geview in 2019.
“So far we have been compet-
ing,” said Caldera coach Alicia
Rudloff. “Every game we have
been getting better and better.
We aren’t going to go out there
and make goals to win every
match, because we are realis-
tic. We are going out there to
set personal goals and get bet-
ter personally. We are trying to
work on ourselves when we go
into each match and hopefully
that will reflect into our team
goals. Our big thing is to play
with intention.”
█
Reporter: 541-383-0307,
brathbone@bendbulletin.com
SOCCER
Ridgeview boys go unbeaten in nonleague play
“It is huge when you can score two goals because it takes
that momentum. It is funny how it happens in soccer.
You get one, the energy level goes up, the other team’s
energy goes down, and then they make a mistake and you
capitalize on it.”
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
CO Media Group
For a nonleague match, the
2-1 win for Ridgeview boys soc-
cer over Hood River Valley was
a perfect way to send the unde-
feated Ravens into their confer-
ence schedule.
Over the past four years, the
Ravens and the Eagles were rou-
tinely duking it out for the top
spot in the Intermountain Con-
ference. The teams met eight
times during that span, with
Hood River Valley having the
upper hand going 5-2-1 over
the four years and claiming two
IMC titles to the Ravens’ one.
Even though the two teams
are no longer in the same con-
ference, Ridgeview senior
midfielder Eric Rebuelta was
thrilled when we saw the two
former conference rivals would
play one more time.
“I was super excited when I
saw them on our schedule, and
on our home turf,” Rebuelta
said. “We have had a rivalry
with them over the years. Since
they are in a different confer-
ence than us, it feels good beat-
ing them in my last year.”
For more than 20 minutes
into Tuesday’s late afternoon
match at Ridgeview with less-
than-ideal air quality, the con-
test was scoreless. Then in a
span of two minutes the Ravens
took a commanding 2-0 lead.
First it was senior midfielder
— Jimmy Kim, Ridgeview coach
brian rathbone/The bulletin
Ridgeview’s Orlando Jaimes (10) tries to get past a defender in the Ravens’ 2-1 win over Hood River Valley
Tuesday evening in Redmond.
Tucker Johnson scoring off an
assist from senior forward Or-
lando Jaimes in the 25th minute
to break the scoreless tie. Then
two minutes later, sophomore de-
fender Skiler Ornelas scored with
a left-foot strike to make it 2-0.
“It is huge when you can score
two goals because it takes that
momentum,” said Ridgeview
coach Jimmy Kim. “It is funny
how it happens in soccer. You
get one, the energy level goes
up, the other team’s energy goes
down, and then they make a
mistake and you capitalize on
it. It is great when it happens
to you, but it doesn’t feel good
when it is the other way around.”
The two goals in two min-
utes was all that was needed for
the Ravens, who did not score
the remaining 55 minutes of the
match. The Eagles (1-1-1 over-
all) scored late in the match,
causing a tense ending, but the
Ravens (5-0-0) were able to hold
on and secure the win to remain
undefeated on the season.
And they did so without the
reigning IMC Player of the Year
Kevin Mendez Ochoa, who is
nursing a leg injury.
“At first it was kind of surpris-
ing,” Rebuelta said of the team’s
early success. “Then we kept
playing and playing, and then I
thought, ‘We can do this’. I’m re-
ally proud about the 5-0 start.”
Even with the early success,
Kim thinks there is another
level the squad can reach this
season.
“I think our boys work hard,
they have good connection,
their fitness is good,” Kim said.
“But I really don’t think we have
put it all together yet. We are
improving every week, but I
think we can play better.”
The first test for Ridgeview is
a big one against defending Class
6A state champion Summit next
week to open the new-look Class
5A IMC schedule with the re-
turn of the Bend high schools.
Although the Redmond and
Bend schools were in differ-
ent leagues and classifications
the past four years, their pro-
grams still continued to com-
pete against one another. In
the combined 10 nonleague
matches against Bend High,
Mountain View and Summit
since 2018, Ridgeview had a
6-3-1 record.
“The good thing is they aren’t
new opponents to us; we played
them often in nonleague,” Kim
said. “We have to go out there
and play, but we like where we
are at and like our chances in
the league. Now we just have to
go out there and see what we
can do.”
█
Reporter: 541-383-0307,
brathbone@bendbulletin.com
PREP
SCOREBOARD
Football
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Summit 28, Westview 12
McMinnville 15, Ridgeview
7
Mountain View 42, Forest
Grove 7
Bend 55, Centennial 0
Madras 14, Caldera 6
La Pine 28, Siuslaw 14
Sisters 21, Elmira 7
Culver 32, Santiam 20
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Crook County 28,
Redmond 21
Riddle 26, Gilchrist 12