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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, AuguST 31, 2019
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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.