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SPORTS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HEPPNER Prep volleyball Dawgs stay alive with regional win NEW GROUND The Mustangs head to their first state meet Hermiston beats North Central, loses to Southridge By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian The Hermiston volleyball team still is try- ing to navigate the waters of the Mid-Colum- bia Conference. Thursday, they got a taste of the regional tournament and the Greater Spokane League, with mixed results. The Bulldogs beat North Central in their first match, then got swept by host South- ridge to drop into the consolation bracket. “They came into it with a ton of confi- dence,” Hermiston coach Amy Dyck said. “It’s tough playing back-to-back. You have to be tough mentally and physically. I’m excited for us to get back in the gym next week.” Hermiston will host Shadle Park at 6 p.m. Nov. 8 in a loser out match. The winner will play again on Saturday for a trip to the state tournament. After Hermiston beat NC 25-15, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23, they advanced to the semifi- nals against top seed Southridge. The Suns, who took both MCC matches from the Bulldogs during the regular season, had to rally in the first and second sets, but left no doubt in the third, posting a 25-18, 25-23, 25-15 victory. “One good thing about this team, is we fight,” Suns coach Emily Otto said. “They don’t like being down. We are pretty pumped about playing for the regional title.” Southridge will host Mt. Spokane at 6 p.m. Nov. 8. The winner will advance to state, while the loser will drop into the con- solation bracket to battle for the No. 2 seed to state Nov. 10. The Bulldogs opened the first set against the Suns by taking a 10-4 lead. They had a 13-7 lead, only to see Southridge pull within 13-11 behind a string of points by Bobbie Newton. Hermiston last led 14-13. From there, Jordan Missett reeled off four points for a 17-14 lead. The Bulldogs would get as close as 18-16 down the stretch, only to face Sophia Sumner at the service line. Sumner, who led the Suns with 18 kills for the match, served five consecutive points for a 23-16 lead, and a net serve by the Bull- dogs on set point sealed the win. The second set was a battle. Southridge led 8-5 early on, and Herm- iston had a 20-14 lead before the Suns ral- lied back. The Bulldogs would hang on to a small lead until the Suns tied the set at 23-23. Two unforced errors by the Bulldogs gave South- ridge the win. Sumner had seven of her kills in the sec- ond set. “Sometimes, the nerves get the best of us,” Otto said. “As long as we can stay men- tally strong, we will be fine.” The third set was all Southridge. After a 4-4 tie, the Suns took off. Sumner served five consecutive points for a 12-6 lead, and Southridge never looked back. Sophia Streeter had eight kills for the Bulldogs, while Ireland McDonough had 10 digs and four aces, Halee Stubbs 12 digs, Kendall Dowdy 12 assists, and Courtnee West 11 assists. “I don’t think people expected us to get past the first match,” Dyck said. “I like being a little unknown.” Sumner added 13 digs in the match, while Ashlyn Dupuis had 12 kills, Shayla Hood 13 digs, and Kennedy Conrad and Missett 16 assists each. In the match against North Central, Streeter had 10 kills and two blocks, while McDonough had eight kills, nine digs and five aces. Stubbs had 39 digs, Emma Combes five kills and eight digs, Scout Rea- gan five kills and nine digs, and Dowdy 22 assists and 11 digs. Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Heppner cross-country team, left, runs at the start of the Special District 3 cross-country meet on Oct. 26 in Pendleton. By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian C ross-country is a relatively new sport at Heppner High School. The program is in its fourth season, but Hunter Nichols already has the Mustangs on the map. The Heppner senior will be making his third appearance at the 2A/1A state cross-country meet Saturday, and for the first time, he will be joined by his teammates. “We ran really good at district,” said Nichols, whose team finished second behind Union. “We all had the right mindset. If we go into state like we did last week, we will be fine.” Nichols finished third at the Special District 3 race in a time of 16 minutes, 57.30 seconds. It was not a stellar time for Nichols, but the entire field was a bit slow, he said. Nichols, who placed 15th at state as a sophomore, and eighth last year, is excited to make another trip to Lane Community College in Eugene. He’s just as excited to take his teammates with him. “I really wanted to get the team there,” Nichols said. “I figured if I finished in the top three, they would do the rest.” And they did. The seven Heppner runners all finished in the top 18 at district. Joining Nichols at state will be Hayden Qualls (9th), Colt Parker (10th), Trevor Antonucci (11th), Leo Waite (12th), Tyson Vawser (14th) and Christian Dubry (18th). Nichols’ personal best this fall is 15:52.30, which he ran Oct. 18 at the Kyle Burnside Wildhorse Invite. He will have to run close to that on Saturday to stay with the top pack at state. Union’s Tim Stevens (2nd at state last year) and Jack Silveira (15th) have been the top two runners in the district all season. At state, they will be chal- lenged by Isaac Whitney of Oakridge, who was sixth last year, Isaac Cutler of Bandon (7th), Cam McChesney of Ver- itas (10th) and Robert Pina-Morton of Knappa (20th). A new challenge Nichols grew up playing football in Heppner, and like all boys, hoped to one day wear the blue and gold of the Mustangs. But being a smaller guy, Nichols wasn’t sure high school football was for him. “My freshman year was the first year we had cross-country,” Nichols said. “I kinda started the team. It means so much to me to be able to take a team to state. I have worked so hard to make that hap- pen. It’s special, and I’m excited.” His parents Russ and Toni supported his choice. They serve as co-coaches for the cross-country team. For those of you think cross-country is easy, Nichols assures it is not. “You have to have the right mindset,” he said. “You have to be mentally strong. It’s almost harder than being physically strong.” Nichols, who would like to major in medicine, hopes to continue running in college. He’s still weighing his options. Pacific University and Linfield are enticing. “I have been in contact with the coaches,” he said. Once state is over, Nichols will rise early Sunday morning with his dad to head off on another adventure. “I have a bull tag for elk,” he said. Lillard helps Blazers beat Pelicans AP Photo/Steve Dykes New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, center left, passes the ball as Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, left, forward Al-Farouq Aminu, center right, and guard CJ McCollum, right, defend on Thursday night. PORTLAND (AP) — Damian Lillard scored 26 points to help Portland beat New Orleans 132-119 on Thursday night in the first meeting between the teams since the Pelicans swept the Trail Blazers in the first round of last season’s playoffs. Jusuf Nurkic added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers, who made 18 3-pointers in their third straight win. New Orleans dropped its fourth consecutive game. The Pelicans were the sixth seed last season when they upset the third-seeded Blaz- ers in the playoffs. NBA Blazers Pelicans 132 119 Julius Randle scored 29 points, but Pelicans star Anthony Davis was side- lined by a right elbow sprain. Davis had returned from the injury Wednes- day night against Golden State, when he collected 17 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in a 131-121 loss to the Warriors. Sports shorts THIS DATE IN SPORTS Timberwolves unveil Prince-inspired uniform AP Photo/Jim Mone The new City Edition Minnesota Timberwolves uniform, honoring the legacy of the late rock star Prince. CHANHASSEN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Timberwolves are paying trib- ute to Prince with a purple-highlighted uniform. The team Thursday unveiled Prince-in- spired City Edition uniforms. The new look uniforms were created in collaboration between the Timberwolves, Nike and the Prince estate. Prince family members say the “Purple Rain” superstar enjoyed basketball from a young age, both as a player and fan. The new jersey includes a paisley leaf in tribute to Prince’s Paisley Park studio, the letters “MPLS” recognizing the Minneapo- lis Sound and purple touches. The Timberwolves also plan to recog- nize and donate to nonprofits that advance causes that were important to Prince. Minnesota will debut the new uniform on Nov. 16 when the Timberwolves face the Portland Trail Blazers at Target Center. The Wolves will wear the uniforms eight times during the regular season. 1958 — Chicago and Los Ange- les establish an NFL attendance record when 90,833 filled the L.A. Coliseum to see the Rams beat the Bears 41-35. 2016 — The Chicago Cubs win their first World Series champion- ship since 1908 when Ben Zobrist hits a go-ahead double in the 10th inning, beating the Cleveland Indi- ans 8-7 in a thrilling Game 7 delayed by rain early. Chicago is the first club to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com