Wednesday, September 1, 2021
A9
SPORTS
Joseph, Enterprise open volleyball season
Chieftain staff
The Joseph and Enter-
prise volleyball teams
opened the seasons on the
road, and found success on
the way.
The Eagles edged Coun-
try Christian in a fi ve-set
thriller on Thursday, Aug.
26, 28-26, 22-25, 26-24,
24-26, 15-13.
On Friday, Joseph fell
to St. Paul, 20-25, 25-21,
25-11, 25-22, then later
defeated Gervais in a neu-
tral-site match at St. Paul,
20-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-19.
Enterprise, meanwhile,
opened with a sweep of
McLoughlin on the road
Friday, 25-19, 25-16, 25-8,
then fell to Crane at the
Grant Union Tournament,
25-15, 25-15.
Stats and any other
scores were not available.
Games canceled,
schedules adjusted
due to COVID-19
Wallowa’s
jamboree
and fi rst football game of
the 2021 season were can-
celed due to COVID-19,
Athletic Director Marvin
Gibbs confi rmed Thursday,
Aug. 26.
The jamboree in Wal-
lowa was set to feature the
Cougars, Cove and Sher-
man/Condon. Gibbs said
both Wallowa and Sher-
man/Condon needed to
cancel.
The Cougars were also
scheduled to face Falls City
in the Dufur Classic on
Sept. 3.
The season opener for
the Cougars now will be
Sept. 10 at DeSales in
Walla Walla, Washington,
though Gibbs said there is
some uncertainty there.
The Enterprise foot-
ball team also has made a
change to the schedule to
start its season.
\The Outlaws, who were
to face Gold Beach at the
Dufur Classic, will now
host Crane at 2 p.m. Friday,
according to the OSAA
website.
The Wallowa volleyball
team had its opening week-
end of action canceled, and
now is scheduled to begin
the season at 5 p.m. Thurs-
day, Sept. 2, when it hosts
Enterprise.
ON THE SCHEDULE
Volleyball
Thursday, Sept. 2
Enterprise at Prairie City
Tournament, all day
Volleyball
Joseph, Wallowa at Echo
Tournament, all day
Enterprise at Wallowa,
5 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 7
Friday, Sept. 3
Volleyball
Football
Crane at Enterprise, 2 p.m.
Echo at Joseph, 7 p.m.
Cove at Enterprise, 5 p.m.
Wallowa at Imbler, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 8
Volleyball
Volleyball
Echo at Joseph, 5 p.m.
Joseph at union, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 4
—Subject to change
Outlaws feel loss of more than graduated seniors this fall
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The Enter-
prise Outlaws are not only going
to be feeling the loss of two key
pieces to graduation, but two addi-
tional seniors who would have
been starters for Lisa Farwell.
The head coach said both
Asiya Salim, the Outlaws’ set-
ter, and Savannah Vaughn, their
middle blocker, have moved out
of the area, leaving a hole in the
lineup.
“To have both of them (gone)
is a double whammy,” she said.
“That is unexpected.”
Given the setback, Farwell will
have more youth blended in with
the experience she does return,
led by senior Jada Gray.
“She started some as a fresh-
man. That is the season we lost
Gracie Neizen to an injury and
pulled this wide-eyed freshman
off the bench,” Farwell said. “She
is a great leader and a great mid-
dle blocker. She will be part of
our core group.”
Enterprise also has Rilyn
Kirkland back. The senior played
during the coronavirus-short-
ened fall season, but didn’t play
Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Wallowa’s Zoe Hermens fi nesses the ball past Jada Gray of Enterprise
during a game Oct. 15, 2020, in Enterprise.
in the spring.
“She is doing most of our set-
ting duties for us,” Farwell said of
Kirkland. “(She has) lots of vol-
leyball experience, lots of volley-
ball IQ.”
Eagles look to be balanced this fall
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — Jill Hite liked the
toughness and resilience her Joseph
Eagles volleyball team showed during
its fi rst weekend of play this fall.
And she hopes it continues this
season.
“I thought the girls played really
well, especially against Country
(Christian),” Hite said of the Eagles,
who won two of three matches on the
west side of the state to open the fall.
“Their defense really stepped up in
the last little bit. That was fun to get
out there and see them play defense.”
Hite has just two seniors on the
squad and lost a load of experience
and talent, particularly in the gradu-
ation of standout Sabrina Albee. She
has eight players currently on the var-
sity roster for 2021.
“For being as young as we are and
not really doing any normal play last
year, I thought for the fi rst weekend
out we did well,” she said. “I was
impressed with the girls.”
Middle blockers Emma and Sara
Orr are the two seniors for the Eagles.
Molly Curry, a junior who has played
middle in the past, has been moved to
outside hitter, and will share duties at
the position with Cooper Nave.
Her back row players will be Mag-
gie Miller, McKenzie Keff er and
Abby Orr, with Aimee Meyers, now
a sophomore, engineering the off ense
from her setter position.
“No freshmen this year as far as on
the varsity,” Hite said. “Fun group of
girls. Good attitude, (and) they like to
work hard. So far it’s been fun.”
Hite added that she has seen each
player in their own way step up with
the departure of the prior senior class.
“I think each of them is step-
ping into a role on their own,” she
said. “We haven’t had just one per-
son emerge (as a leader) all the time.
I think this team is young and not hav-
ing that experience, we’re hoping that
will emerge soon.”
Hite, who in the past has seen her
teams primarily driven on off ense by
one or two players, thinks that will be
diff erent this year, too.
“I haven’t been balanced for a long
time. For the fi rst time in a long time
I think you are going to see more bal-
ance,” she said.
She also saw a never-quit atti-
tude from her team in the fi rst three
matches against Country Christian,
St. Paul and Gervais.
“I’m looking forward to it, based
on how the girls reacted against those
three good teams,” she said. “They
are kind of a team that never gives
up. They don’t have any quit in them.
Even when we were down against all
three of those schools at some point,
they didn’t give up. They kept chip-
ping away at it, which is really good
to see in a young squad.”
A focal point noticed in those
matches, though, is for the team to
improve in fi nding holes in the oppo-
sition’s defense.
“The teams we played this week-
end, their defense is usually good, so
trying to see those open spots on the
fl oor (is important),” she said.
Hite sees the Old Oregon League
as “pretty wide open” this fall.
The Eagles open OOL action Sept.
9 when they host Cove.
Outside hitter, junior Maci
Marr, is back as well, and will
join Kirkland and Gray to be the
Outlaws’ three captains.
“They’ll play all the way
around, front and back row,” Far-
well said. “They are working
really hard. They’ll be great lead-
ers on our team.”
Farwell has fi ve additional
players on the varsity roster to
start things off , including returner
and senior Liz Rowley split-
ting time as an outside hitter and
middle blocker, and Rosie Mov-
ich-Fields spending most of her
time as a libero.
Josi Coggins and Brianna
Rouse will also fi gure into the
mix, as will Maddie Wigen.
“Maddie is kind of inexperi-
enced, (and) didn’t start volley-
ball, period, until last year,” Far-
well said.
The junior, though, has the
potential to be an impact player.
“She is tall, has great hands,
athletic, (and) we are looking for-
ward to utilizing her. We’re going
to get her there,” Farwell said.
Farwell knows, however, that
the positions could be mixed up
on a match-by-match or week-by-
week basis because of the coro-
navirus pandemic, and that as a
result, players could be placed in
spots not as familiar for them.
“They’re smart, athletic, (and)
will be able to switch positions,”
the coach said. “Flexibility is
going to be the name of the game
for all of us.”
Passing will be a skill Farwell
hopes the Outlaws improve in
because of its importance to the
rest of the game.
“We’ve not always been a
good passing team, but that’s
where everything starts,” she
said. “Everything after that is so
much easier. I have good hitters,
players who like to be aggressive
at the net. If we can improve our
passing and focusing on that, I
think we should have a good team
and hopefully win some games.”
Farwell expects Union and
Weston-McEwen to be strong in
the Blue Mountain Conference,
but said “after that it might be
wide open.”
Enterprise opens BMC play
Sept. 23 at home against Stanfi eld.
“We’re super glad to get to be
playing volleyball, and hope that
it will be as normal as possible,”
Farwell said. “Don’t know quite
what to expect.”
New leaders emerging for Cougars
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WALLOWA — The lat-
est wave of the coronavi-
rus pandemic has already
impacted the Wallowa vol-
leyball team.
The Cougars canceled
play their fi rst weekend after
seeing players have to enter
quarantine last week.
“We had some kids that
had to go into quarantine,
so we were limited on what
we could do,” Cougars head
coach Janea Hulse said. “I
just canceled to be on the
safe side.”
Hulse said she is hope-
ful the team will be at full
strength for what now is
its new season opener on
Thursday, Sept. 2, at home
against Enterprise.
“Fingers crossed, we’ll
hopefully have most of them
when we play Enterprise,”
she said.
But she also knows that
this season, if a player here
or there ends up in quaran-
tine, other players will have
to step up into new or diff er-
ent positions for Wallowa to
have success — or maybe
even play.
“We’re all going to be
coming into times when we
don’t have our full rotations.
Kids are going to be in quar-
antine, so you’ll have to
make a rotation out of what
you have,” she said. “All
the other teams are going to
be going through the same
thing we are.”
Because of that, she is
working on having players
practice multiple positions
and skill sets now, and she
knows it will serve a long-
term benefi t.
“In the big picture, that is
going to make them a better
player,” she said.
The Cougars take the
court this season losing
four players to graduation,
including Ella Moeller and
Shanna Rae Tillery, but they
do return four players who
were in the regular rota-
tion a season ago, led by
senior middle blocker Haley
Brockamp.
Junior Libby Fisher and
sophomores Zoe Hermens
and Sophie Moeller are
also returners with varsity
experience.
“Hoping that kids can
step up at this point,” Hulse
said.
She called the players
she has, though, a “solid
group” and noted Emma
Starner-Durning and Cecilia
April among the varsity
newcomers Wallowa will be
looking to step up.
“And hoping that we have
some freshmen that really
come into knowing some
stuff ,” Hulse said. “The
dynamics of everything is
what is the biggest thing.”
Hulse said during the
fi rst two weeks of prac-
tice, she has seen the return-
ers coming into leadership
roles previously fi lled by the
now-graduated athletes.
“They are stepping up
into that leadership role that
I need, and they are lead-
ing by example,” she said.
Hulse noted they tell the
newcomers, “When coach
says it’s time to go, it’s time
to go. There is a purpose for
everything here.”
Defense has been a focus
during early practices, as
well.
“I feel defense wins
games. If you can’t play
defense, you’ll never have
an off ense,” she said.
“It’s trying to fi nd the
right set to the right plate.
We’ve been working a lot
on defense and a lot on
serves to try and minimize
unforced errors.”
Hulse expects some of
the main players atop the
Old Oregon League to be
there again this fall.
“I expect to see Joseph
and Powder Valley. (They)
are still going to be the ones
in the lead, the ones every-
one wants to beat,” she said.
“I’ve watched a little bit of
game fi lm on each of them.
They do look strong, and I’m
sure everyone of us has our
strengths and weaknesses.”
Wallowa begins OOL
play Sept. 7 at Imbler.
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