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A8 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, AuguST 31, 2019 CONTACT US FOLLOW US Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports VOLLEYBALL WARRENTON TOPS KNAPPA IN THRILLING OPENER By GARY HENLEY The Astorian SCOREBOARD W ARRENTON — If it’s Knappa vs. Warrenton vol- leyball … it must be the start of another fall sports season. That’s exactly what it was Thurs- day night at Warrenton, where the Loggers and Warriors tipped off the 2019 fall sports campaign with their annual season opener. And tipped it off in grand style. Both teams took positives away from Thursday’s thrilling opener. Warrenton got the ‘W’ in four sets, but Knappa put up its best battle in years against the Warriors, the defend- ing champions of the Class 3A Coastal Range League. Warrenton held sizable leads in almost every game, but the Warriors had to work hard all night for the vic- tory, 16-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-23. Knappa, meanwhile, held leads in three of the four sets and looked to be in midseason form, right from the start. “What a fun way to start the sea- son,” said Warrenton coach Staci Miethe. “Two local former rivals bat- tling it out like it’s postseason. “Both of us have pretty young teams, so this was really impressive to me to have this caliber of volley- ball first game out of the gate, with so many underclassmen on the floor.” The Warriors led 11-6 in Game 1, but as hard as they played, the War- riors just could not shake the Loggers. A long serving string by freshman Ava Skipper helped Knappa rally for a 13-11 lead. Then, after briefly losing their advantage, Logger sophomore Han- nah Dietrichs served Knappa right back into a 20-14 lead. The Loggers outscored Warrenton 5-2 from there, highlighted by a back- row kill from Aiko Miller to secure Knappa’s only victory. “Ava Skipper did a great job get- ting to the passes and setting up the front row,” said Knappa coach Jeff Kaul, “and everyone was active cover- ing the blockers, and basically played one of the best games I have seen in a long while.” The Warriors charged back and took a 12-3 lead in Game 2, but Knappa rallied once again, and behind some PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE TUESDAY Volleyball — Seaside at Stayton, 6 p.m.; Yamhill-Carlton at Warrenton, 6 p.m.; Neah-Kah-Nie at Jewell, 6 p.m. Girls Soccer — Newport at Seaside, 7:15 p.m. Boys Soccer — Seaside at Newport, 6 p.m. Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian Warrenton’s Avyree Miethe leaps to block a ball spiked by Knappa’s Taylin Regier during the first match of the season. See more photos online at DailyAstorian.com strong serving and net play from Vicki Ramvick, the Loggers pulled into an 18-18 tie. From there, some unfortunate attack errors by Knappa helped War- renton outscore the Loggers 7-3 to tie the match at one game apiece. Game 3 was a battle of missed serves — seven by Knappa, six from Warrenton. The Loggers built an early 5-0 advantage, Warrenton rallied to take a brief lead, and the teams played through ties at 13, 14, 15, 16 and 18. A pair of Warrenton sophomores came to the rescue, as an ace serve by Avyree Miethe and a kill from Leah Schiewe highlighted a key run for the Warriors for a 24-22 lead, and junior Mia McFadden finished it off with an ace at game point. Outside of their Game 1 win, Knap- pa’s best stretch of the night came in the fourth set, when the Loggers fought off a 16-7 deficit with a 14-2 rally. Dietrichs had four ace serves in a five-minute span, serving Knappa into a 21-18 lead, with help from kills by Ramvick, Sophia Carlson and Taylin Regier. But a Warrenton timeout helped the Warriors regain the momentum they had to start the set. An ace serve by Grace Fritz tied it at 21-21, and Fritz set Miethe for a kill and the lead. The Warriors then took advantage of a few unforced errors by the Loggers, including a net violation, for a 24-23 advantage. And Warrenton senior Natalie Oseguera provided the match point, blocking a Knappa kill attempt for the final point and the victory. “I think the difference came down to serving,” Miethe said. “We started off not serving well in the first game, and then they had some serving issues later in the match, but all the other stuff was solid.” Since the 2A-3A split after the 2005-06 school year, Knappa and Warrenton have either opened the sea- son or met in nonleague play every year since the fall of 2006, with the Warriors now holding a 13-1 record. Knappa’s last win over the Warriors was in 2010. “I would have liked the win, but we played them tougher than we have in the past, so I was pretty happy,” Kaul said. “It was very good to see the hard work these girls have been putting in pay off and be able to compete in these types of games.” Skipper was 15-for-18 serving, with 11 digs and 10 assists in her first high school match. Dietrichs finished 23-of-23 at the service line with seven aces, while Ramvick had a team-high eight kills. Carlson added six kills and Miller had 10 digs. “Our front row was very active tonight, getting lots of hits and our covering was better than it has been in the past,” Kaul said. “Down the stretch of each game we just made some sim- ple mistakes and gave our opponents too many points.” Miethe said, “Both teams were scrappy. Watching (the Loggers) in warmups, what struck me is how many solid hitters they have in their lineup. They always have two formi- dable players in the front row. That will be such a bonus for them in their league.” For the Warriors, she said, “we showed we could still play great net defense, even with the loss of Fer- nanda (Alvarez). The Leah/Natalie combo at the net was what I was hop- ing. They play really well together. Leah had six blocks, six touches and two block kills.” Additionally, “Annie Heyen played well there,” Miethe said. “She is new to the lineup, but is so smart and such a hard worker, I was just rooting for her to show me she could step into that role, and tonight I was happy with what I saw (four blocks, four block kills).” Warrenton had 16 ace serves as a team, nine aces from McFadden. “Offensively we spread the wealth pretty well,” said the coach. “Our back row offense will need some work, but the front row did a great job of mixing speeds, and taking advantage of good sets when they were there.” Avyree Miethe had seven kills. “She is still recouping from her ruptured appendix, so anticipate her to be hitting a bit stronger once league starts,” said mom. The Loggers return to Warrenton on Saturday for the Warriors’ annual preseason tournament. Junior Varsity: Knappa def. War- renton, 25-8, 25-3. Oregon opens with Auburn 9 years after title game By STEPHEN HAWKINS Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas — For all the expectations that the 11th-ranked Oregon Ducks have for this season, there will first be a flashback to their championship near- misses of the past when they open against No. 16 Auburn. When the Ducks last played in the home stadium of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys five seasons ago with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota, they lost to Ohio State in the first championship game of the four-team College Football Playoff era. Oregon also played a season opener at the North Texas stadium in 2011, the middle of three consecutive 12-win seasons under coach Chip Kelly. That loss to LSU came only about eight months after they were again on the verge of a national title, and lost in the BCS Championship Game to Auburn. Gus Malzahn, going into his seventh season as head coach of the Tigers, was their offensive coordinator for that 2010 championship. “Sometimes in the offseason, you reflect back on certain things. But that was a while ago, and of course, those are great memo- ries,” Malzahn said. “But they’re different now, and we’re a little different now.” The Ducks are the highest-ranked Pac-12 team and the North Division favorite. They go into Saturday night’s game, the opener of coach Mario Cristobal’s second season, with a three-game winning streak after a 9-4 season. Malzahn is feeling some heat at Auburn after going 8-5 last year, another disappoint- ing record for the Tigers, who in his first season as head coach in 2013 played in the last BCS title game (a 34-31 loss to Florida State). Five SEC teams are ranked higher than Auburn. Quarterback Justin Herbert, a potential first-round NFL draft pick, opted to stay at Oregon for his senior season. That was just UP NEXT: DUCKS • No. 11 Oregon Ducks (0-0) vs No. 16 Auburn Tigers (0-0) • Today, 4:30 p.m. TV: ABC Ducks guard Shane Lemieux was a first-team AP preseason All-American and tackle Cal- vin Throckmorton was selected to the second team. Oregon also has sophomore left tackle Penei Sewell, who didn’t commit a penalty in over 450 snaps as a freshman. Right guard Dallas Warmack is a graduate transfer from Alabama, where he was recruited by Cris- tobal, who was Nick Saban’s assistant head coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator from 2013-16. FIND OUT FAST Timothy J. Gonzalez/AP Photo Oregon coach Mario Cristobal stands with players before the team’s game against Oregon State in Corvallis last season. another reason Cristobal, his third coach with the Ducks, is confident that this team can meet expectations. “Culture and the work invested. I think there’s no hocus pocus to it. We feel that we’ve gone to a system, we’ve gone to a blueprint that’s demanding but at the same time not demeaning,” Cristobal said. “It’s very encouraging, develops guys at a very high level and you see that. ... I think with that you build trust, you build confidence and therefore you execute better.” Some things to know about another SEC vs. Pac-12 season opener: BO KNOWS AUBURN Auburn is going with a true freshman starting quarterback whose name is famil- iar to the program. Bo Nix had a record-set- ting prep career that included Class 6A state titles in Alabama the past two seasons while playing for his father Patrick Nix, a Tigers quarterback from 1992-95. Bo Nix is set to become the first Auburn freshman to start an opener at quarterback since Travis Tidwell in 1946. The January enrollee beat out Joey Gatewood for the starting job after coming in rated the nation’s No. 1 dual-threat quarter- back in the 247Sports composite rankings. VETERAN O-LINES Auburn has five fifth-year starters on the offensive line. Oregon has five seniors, and its OL has an FBS-best 153 combined starts. Auburn is playing a Pac-12 team in the opener for the second year in a row, after beating Washington 21-16 in Atlanta last year. “When you’re playing one of the best teams in the country, you get the advantage of seeing exactly where you’re at,” Malzahn said. “Because there are some teams that play teams that are lesser, and they don’t really know exactly where they’re at, maybe until later in the season.” EXTRA POINTS Oregon hasn’t opened with a win over a ranked team since beating Wisconsin in 2001. The Ducks have won seven straight openers, though. ... Auburn is 6-0 against Pac-12 teams in neutral-site games. ... Ducks RB CJ Verdell was the only Power Five player last season with 1,000 yards rushing and 300 yards receiving. ... This is the 11th year in a row with a season-opening Top 25 matchup at AT&T Stadium. This is Auburn’s first time in that game, and Oregon’s second. AP writers John Zenor in Auburn, Ala- bama, and Anne M. Peterson in Oregon, contributed to this report.
