PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 5, 2021
Celts make long awaited
return to the VBall court
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
The McNary volleyball
team hasn’t been together in
the school gym for more than
a year due to the COVID-19
pandemic. After the other tra-
ditional fall sports got the go-
ahead to begin Season 2 ac-
tivities, volleyball players had
to wait patiently to see if they
would be able to have a season
— ‘Extreme’ risk counties can
only have six people in the gym
at a time.
On Friday, Feb. 26, Marion
County moved from ‘Extreme’
risk to ‘High’ risk, meaning that
school gyms can have up to 50
people in the space at a time
and that the McNary volleyball
squad could fi nally prepare to
have a season.
While many girls on the
team have played club ball over
the last year, the Celtics have
only been able to do team con-
ditioning and workouts due to
OSAA restrictions, so once they
were able to get back inside and
practice with an actual volley-
ball, it was a joyous occasion.
“We are loving every min-
ute,” said McNary head coach
Crystal DeMello. “We have
been doing outside workouts
ever since the pandemic hit, so
we are beyond excited to be
able to get back on the court
and actually do some technical
training. I want these girls to
seize this opportunity.”
With the constant fl uidi-
ty surrounding volleyball, and
other prep sports, DeMello is
thankful for McNary athletic
director Scott Gragg’s ability to
communicate with the coach-
ing staff about what they are
allowed to do on a weekly basis.
“(Gragg) has done a great job
of keeping us in the loop with
what we can and can’t do. Be-
ing on the same page is crucial,”
DeMello said. “We are going to
play until they tell us we can’t.”
The Celtics lost fi ve seniors
from last season’s team, includ-
ing three all-leaguers, but they
return one of the top outside
hitters in the league in senior
Taylor Ebbs.
File
Ellie Dean prepares to set the ball in a match from 2019. Dean
is one four returning seniors on the McNary roster.
Ebbs — who will be play-
ing softball at the University of
Kentucky next year — was an
honorable mention all-confer-
ence selection last season with
140 kills and 106 digs. She is
also one of the unquestioned
leaders of the team according to
DeMello.
“Taylor is a leader. You can’t
match her tenacity and com-
petitiveness,” DeMello said.
“It’s bittersweet because I know
Taylor wanted a full senior sea-
son to close out her volleyball
career, but she is really excited
that she does at least get the
chance to play one last time.”
The Celtics other senior re-
turners are key front row players
in Jasmine Zepeda and Trinity
Kampstra, as well as setter Ellie
Dean. Additionally, McNary re-
turns a sophomore and a pair of
juniors who received signifi cant
playing time last season.
Maddison Corpe was the
team’s lead setter as a freshman
last season and junior Maddox
Snider is expected to be one
of the team’s top hitters. Alexis
Eldridge, a junior, will likely be
the team’s premier libero.
“I am really excited to see
what Maddison can do this
year. She has been training very
hard,” DeMello said. “Maddox
is one of our most versatile
players. She has mostly been a
front row player, but has really
been working on her ability to
play in the back row.”
Sophomores Isabella Rodri-
guez and Emily Blagg, as well as
junior Emily Lettenmaier, were
three of the top players on the
JV team last season and are ex-
pected to play a role in the var-
sity lineup.
“Our goal is to compete with
everyone we play this season
and have some of our younger
girls transition into more of a
varsity mindset. We also want to
be a team that is mentally tough
and have girls that are continu-
ing to grow in their volleyball
IQ,” DeMello said.
Although spectators will not
be allowed in the building, fans
can watch McNary volleyball
matches on NFHSnetwork.
com. The Celtics will travel to
Dallas to open up their season
on Tuesday, March 9 for a 7:15
p.m. match.
JACK,
continued from Page A14
McCarty was still fi nding
ways to improve and get
repetitions. During the
offseason, McCarty played
on the Island Boy Camp
(IBC) Gym Club squad
during 7-on-7 weekend
tournaments and even
formed a McNary 7-on-7
team.
In their seven competi-
tions, McCarty ended up
leading McNary to a pair of
tournament championships
and Gym Club to four tour-
ney titles.
“It was really fun because
I always felt like I was play-
ing in a championship game
with either team,” McCarty
said.
After months of volun-
tary workouts and 7-on-7,
McCarty found out last
month that he would indeed
get an opportunity to be the
starting quarterback for Mc-
Nary when the Salem-Keizer
School District announced
that they would be opting-in
for a partial season due to a
change in COVID-19 guid-
ance from the Governor’s
offi ce and Oregon Health
Authority.
Despite there only being
six games on the schedule
with no playoffs and no spec-
tators, McCarty is thankful
for the gift of an opportunity.
“I just wanted whatev-
er we could get. As long as
we are getting full-contact,
actual football, I will take it,”
McCarty said.
“I’m glad he gets the
chance to show what he can
do,” Auvinen added.
Even though McCarty
has taken only a few varsi-
ty snaps in his career, he is
still generating interest from
several local Division III
schools, including Linfi eld
and Pacifi c — he even got
offi cial offers from Lewis
& Clark and Willamette.
McCarty is hoping to garner
even more collegiate interest
after playing some meaning-
ful varsity snaps.
“I really don’t have any
varsity fi lm to show schools
right now, that’s one of the
reasons getting to play this
season is such a big deal,”
McCarty said.
Auvinen is confi dent that,
no matter how this season
turns out, his quarterback
will be ready for the next
level.
“I think D3 is a great
level for him. I believe he
will be able to battle for a
ton of playing time. There
will be schools that would
take him in a heartbeat after
seeing him play this season,”
Auvinen said.
As for this season, Mc-
Carty doesn’t have any lofty
individual goals for himself,
he’s just excited to be able to
play varsity football.
“I would really like to go
undefeated as a team, but I
am not really worried about
stats. I’m just glad that I get
the chance to play,” McCarty
said.
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