Wednesday, March 3, 2021
A12
SPORTS
VOLLEYBALL
Teams get their second season after playing in the fall
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Cougars return six from
2019 playoff squad
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Jada Gray, right, and the Enterprise Outlaws volleyball team begins play tonight against Joseph.
fall, they were not working
together as a team very well,”
the coach said, noting that as
a result the team lost a couple
matches she felt they should
have won. “By the end they
realized how important it was
AR
WALLOWA — The fall
Season 1 helped Wallowa
volleyball head coach Janea
Hulse get a sense of what the
Cougars would have given
the chance to take the court as
they now do this spring.
“We
were
fortunate
enough in the fall. It was more
than what summer league
would have given us,” Hulse
said. “I got an idea of a little
more what to expect.”
The abbreviated Season 2
begins this week, with Wal-
lowa’s fi rst contest last night,
Tuesday, March 2, against
Cove.
Learning
cohesiveness
was a vital aspect of the fall
for the Cougars, one Hulse
hopes they carry onto the
court the next few weeks.
“At the beginning of the
STAY
WARM
YE
W
NE
H A
P
PY
with
201 E. Hwy 82 • Enterprise
541-426-0320
Sales & Service
Hours: Mon-Fri 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Serving Wallowa County
• Convenient Delivery • Residential •
• Commercial • Industrial •
Get All Your
Needs Met!
Heating & Cooling
Bulk Fuel & Propane
Propane stoves & heat for home/office
Expertly installed heating systems
Even distribution of heat
Bulk farm fuel
Residential propane heating fuel
Bulk diesel, gas & propane
Air conditioning units to keep your
home/office comfortable in summer
One Call Does It All!
Equipment Sales, Installation & Service
Call Wallowa County Grain Growers Today!
541-426-3116
Heating/cooling: x 1201
Bulk fuel/propane: x 1235
WALLOWA COUNTY GRAIN GROWERS
A farmer-owned coop serving the people of
Wallowa County since 1944
911 South River St
Enterprise, Oregon
541-426-3116
M-F 8AM-5:30PM • SAT 8AM-5PM • SUN 9AM-3PM
Coleman
Oil Wallowa
Cardlock is
NOW
OPEN
and started having success. …
They had some games (that
they lost early on) where I
thought they were the stron-
ger team.”
Wallowa brings back
six varsity players from the
2019 team that went 22-9 and
reached the second round of
the state playoffs, including
seniors Ella Moeller, Shanna
Rae Tillery, Bailey Hafer and
Samantha Starner.
Moeller and Tillery have
been mainstays of the team for
several years, though Moeller
will switch from libero to set-
ter to replace the graduated
Ashlyn Young.
“I really needed an upper-
classman to help lead, and
that is where you are leading
from is the setter (position),”
Hulse said.
Freshmen Sophie Moeller
and Zoe Hermens have come
along strong, Hulse said, and
sophomore Libby Fisher is a
player the coach said is gain-
ing confi dence each day.
“I have Libby on the right
side, and she is a great block
to help slow the offense
down,” Hulse said.
Hulse said a team strength
is its athleticism, and said
many of the players are
motivated.
“The biggest obstacle
is making sure they stick
together as a team and don’t
get frustrated,” she said. “It’s
the dynamic of volleyball —
you cannot get down.”
Outlaws preparing
despite limited
practice time
ENTERPRISE — The
amount of practice time for
schools before the start of the
Season 2 volleyball slate was
already going to be limited.
And last week Enter-
prise, as it began preparing
for games which start tonight,
got a taste of just how slim the
margins are going to be as it
tries to play a season during
the pandemic — the last two
days of practice last week
were canceled after a con-
fi rmed case of COVID-19 in
the school.
“It’s been diffi cult. It’s
hard to do. I’m used to having
close to two weeks, and usu-
ally in the fall we have daily
doubles,” EHS head coach
Lisa Farwell said. “I’m not
feeling as comfortable.”
The Outlaws, who went
10-14 in 2019, will be helped
by the fact they got several
games in during the fall.
“Of course, it is our second
season. Nothing dramatic has
changed,” Farwell said. “Our
lineup will be a little different
and we’re a little younger. It
all makes for some interest-
ing lineup decisions, but we
are still looking forward to the
season. Last week felt great
to be in the gym with the nets
up.”
Just two seniors are tak-
ing the court for the Outlaws
— Claire Farwell and Kasey
Duncan.
“She was a strong libero
for us last year and this year,”
Farwell said of her daughter.
“Kasey Duncan, she’s going
to have an expanded role.”
Three juniors — mid-
dle blockers Jada Gray and
Savannah Vaughn, and setter
Asiya Salim — will be key to
the Outlaws’ success, as will
sophomore Maci Marr.
“Jada has been starting
since she was a freshman ...
Her hitting is on the money,”
Farwell said.
Most of the matches Enter-
prise will play this season is
against 1A schools, but the
coach said EHS still will get
a good matchup against those
teams and will not have to
travel far, either.
“The competition in that
1A league around us is so
high and so good,” she said.
“It’s been nice to not have to
travel over the hill.”
She added the players —
and herself — are happy to
have a chance to be on the
court after the uncertainty of
the last few months.
“I think they’re really
excited. They’re just up to do
anything we can,” she said.
“We weren’t sure we were
gonna get a chance this sec-
ond volleyball season.”
Eagles already
have familiarity as
they enter 2021
JOSEPH — Joseph head
volleyball coach Jill Hite said
the Eagles usually take some
time to build familiarity with
each other at the start of each
season.
That should already
be established this spring,
though, with Season 2 start-
ing tonight against Enterprise
— six months into the school
year.
“The kids are more famil-
iar with themselves and others
… we usually start the season
in August not knowing each
other,” Hite said, adding that
the players have been around
each other in school now for
months.
That should help as they
adjust to playing in March
and early April, as opposed to
August, September, October
and November. Having Sea-
son 1 in the fall also served a
benefi t.
“It’s helped them prepare
and kinda come together,”
Hite said. “That fall season
was so different. You’re still
playing volleyball but you had
different guidelines you were
going by. You don’t switch
sides, your warmups were
different — a lot of things you
were trying to get used to. It
was nice to have that season
for the kids to get used to all
of that.”
Hite has fi ve seniors out,
four of whom were holdovers
from the team that went 17-14
and reached the second round
of the state playoffs in 2019
— Sabrina Albee, Anabelle
Russell, Zoey Leith and Josey
Wearin. Haley McKee is a
newcomer to the team.
“The four seniors I’ve had
for a long time is an amazing
group of girls. They are pos-
itive, they are hard working
— I can’t say enough about
them. They’re great kids.
They’re responsible,” Hite
said.
Albee has been a key com-
ponent of the offense and is
the team’s fl oor general.
“She’s my fl oor captain
that keeps everybody going
out there,” Hite said.
Molly Curry heads the
group of underclassmen back
this spring, as there are just
three sophomore and two
freshmen on the varsity squad
along with the seniors.
Hite said the team’s excite-
ment level is high as it gets
ready to play.
“I think they’re pretty for-
tunate,” she said. “Yes, they
haven’t had a full season, but
with the two combined they
get a lot of volleyball, even
though we didn’t have our
‘normal season.’”
After tonight’s opener, the
Eagles take the court on their
newly reconstructed home
fl oor Friday against Union.
“I think we are just excited
to play and get going,” Hite
said.
CROSS-COUNTRY
Outlaws back to running, gear up for spring
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA COUNTY
—The defending 3A state
champion Wallowa Val-
ley boys cross-country team
won’t get an offi cial oppor-
tunity to defend its title this
spring.
But one of the races the
Outlaws are signed up to run
in will give a bit of a feel of
what a state meet could have
featured.
East Linn Christian is play-
ing the host for a major meet
April 10 in Lebanon, one that
• Conveniently Located
• Accepting all Major
Credit/Debit and CFN Cards
• Easily Accessible for
Semi trucks, Campers
and RV’s
• Non-Ethanol Premium
• 24/7 Fueling
71051 HWY 82
Wallowa, OR 97885
888-799-2000
www.colemanoil.com
should serve as a de-facto
championship of sorts given
the Oregon School Activities
Association won’t be spon-
soring a state championship
for the Season 2 sports. That
is the fi nal meet on the slate
for Dan Moody and the Out-
laws, which is scheduled to
run its fi rst meet on Monday,
March 8, in Nyssa.
Wallowa Valley runners
won’t be at the fi tness level
for the state meet they would
have been during a regular
year, but Moody anticipates
his team — which has back
four of the top fi ve runners
from the 2019 title teams and
a fi fth runner from the pre-
vious second-place team in
2018 — should still be able to
mix it up with the other teams
in the state.
“I’m hoping we will,” he
said. “Henry (Coughlan) and
Bayden (Menton) and Zac
(Knapp) have been running
a little bit. That’s a plus. The
other kids have to do some
catch up.”
Ian Goodrich is the fourth
returner, joining the rest of
the trio that took three of the
top four spots in 2019, high-
lighted by Coughlan’s indi-
vidual state title. The team’s
depth is solid, too, with Reece
Nelson, who placed fi fth on
the team and 25th overall
when the team just missed
out on a title in 2018. The fi ve
make up 14 runners on the
boys team for the Outlaws.
On the girls side, just four
runners are out, with senior
standout Kyla Hook leading
the way.
“She’s pushing herself.
She’s a hard worker,” Moody
said of Hook. “The No. 1
reason she is out is because
of track. That’s the way I’m
going to try and convince
some of the other kids.”
Lottie McDonald, Iona
McDonald and Michalia
Caine are the other three out
for the girls team.
The races will look more
normal, too, after the recent
prohibition on having more
than two teams compete at
one time was lifted.
The cross-country season
will serve as a warmup for
the spring ‘Season 3,’ which
includes track, and starts prac-
tice April 5.
“As soon as cross-coun-
try is over with, we’re going
into track the next week. I
want them ready for track.
We gotta look at that also,”
Moody said.