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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 2021)
PAGE B20, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 19, 2021 McNary earns 3-0 win in home opener after Ebbs sealed the fi rst game with a touch- kill that landed in-between a pair of Silverton players. “Energy and momentum are huge in volley- ball, so those runs help our players get into a rhythm. It was a game changer,” DeMello said. Both teams went back and McNary outside hitter forth in game two with neither squad leading by more than three Silverton defense with back-to-back aces. at any point in the set. With the game Moments later, a big spike from Eliana tied at 24, Trinity Kampstra ended a long Dean gave McNary the 13-10 lead and rally with a huge stuff at the net, allow- forced the Foxes to burn a timeout. ing the Celtics to gain the advantage. A kill by Ebbs after the timeout helped Silverton tied it at 25, but after an error the Celtics continue the rally — McNary by the Foxes, Ebbs once again ended the rattled off 10 straight points before set with a kill to give McNary the 2-0 lead. Silverton was able to stop the bleeding. With a two-set advantage, and all the "Once we get the momentum and momentum, the Celtics put an exclama- keep our energy up, we're a good team. tion point on the match with their per- That's what gives us the confi dence to go formance in the third game. With a 16-13 out there and compete," Ebbs said. lead, McNary scored nine of the next 11 "It just got the whole team excited and points to win the third and fi nal set by pumped up," Blagg added double digits. Silverton clawed their way back to “The key is defense and making sure tie the game at 23, but McNary was able we know who is covering what space. It's to regain the momentum to end the set a cohesive eff ort,” DeMello said. Once we get the momentum and keep our energy up, we're a good team. That is what gives us the confi dence to go out there and compete. — TAYL McNary outside hitter Taylor Ebbs hits the ball past the Silverton block in the Celtics straight- set victory. Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes BY MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes After winning a thrilling fi ve-set match in their fi rst contest, the McNary volleyball team won in much more con- vincing fashion in their home opener. The Celtics were challenged in the fi rst two games but still came away with the straight-set victory, defeating Silverton 25-23, 27-25, 25-15 on Thursday, March 11. “We love being back in our home gym. Our fans are dearly missed. But the girls are really excited to be back on this court,” McNary head coach Crystal DeMello said. “It's just great to be out here. We were fortunate enough to get a season so we are making the best out of what we got,” McNary outside hitter Taylor Ebbs added. After taking a 5-4 lead in the fi rst set thanks to a kill from Emily Blagg, Silverton rattled off six straight points to take a 10-6 advantage. But McNary rallied back in what turned out to be a match-changing run later in the set. Lexi Eldridge found soft spots in the Although we are currently closed we are still serving the community. More than a building, a center without walls. E S STRUGGLES, Continued from page B1 We are still working hard to bring you programs, activites, and services that you rely on. VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING • REASSURANCE CALLS • FOOD & CARE BOXES Stay up to date and connect — www.facebook.com/center50plus Fit 50+ YouTube Fitness Class REGISTER AT WEBSITE BELOW ZOOM CHAT Reconnect with our drop-in groups. Give us your name and phone number as well as the name of the class you wish to attend. Email us: Connect50plus@cityofsalem.net www.cityofsalem.net/center50 | 503-588-6303 | 2615 Portland Road NE points in isolation suggest the presence of specifi c challenges with mental health. They simply capture snapshots in time that help us identify patterns and trends in student social-emotional well-being as we look for more effi cient ways to respond to emergent student needs, especially now,” Moore said. Moore was able to compare the answers that were received with similar data that was collected across the country. One alarming stat the district found was that 80% of elementary students across the country experienced more positive feelings than SKPS students. However, SKPS elementary students reported doing better with challenging feelings than 70% of their peers across the country. On the contrary, 60% of secondary students across the country experienced more positive feelings than SKPS stu- dents while 50% had similar struggles with challenging feelings. Both elementary and secondary stu- dents said that they were the happiest about family, friends, video games and pets — each set of students also reported that not being able to see family and friends, distance learning, fears about COVID-19 and struggles with mental health have been the hardest issues for them. Although there has been a hands-on eff ort across the district to meet the men- tal health needs of every student, there have been many instances where staff members haven’t been able to get in touch with kids. “Our counselors, teachers, support staff , and administrators have been relentless in their respectful attempts to reach out and consistently connect with students and their families. There are still a few hundred students with whom we’ve lost contact despite trying on a daily or weekly basis — virtually, via phone, and in-person. This is worrisome,” Moore said. While Moore believes that having in-person classes will create a rise in the overall mental health of students, he knows that theme won’t rein true for every kid. “Overall, I have no doubts that we’ll see improvement in the mental health of students as we return to in-person learn- ing. Kids are much more resilient than we often give them credit for, but we will need to be mindful that during the transition back to in-person learning we are likely to see a spike in anxiety for some students, and some signifi cant mental health strug- gles for around 10-15% of students,” Moore said. “We are under no illusions that our transition back to in-person learning will be easy, but I am confi dent in the will and skill of thousands of SKPS staff to show up for students, meet them where they’re at, and focus fi rst on social-emotional well-being, while we build our collective capacity not only to heal through this dif- fi cult time, but also thrive.”
