Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • December 14, 2016 13A
2016 ALL-REGION VOLLEYBALL TEAM
MIDDLE BLOCKER
Krista Omlid
Central
Omlid, a junior, was among the
MWC’s most dangerous middle
blocker/outside hitters. Omlid was
second for the Panthers in kills with
179 and in aces with 23. “Krista is a
very naturally talented player,” Central
coach Claudine Mendazona said. “She
has a lot to offer our program and the
potential to play at a high level be-
yond high school. Offensively and de-
fensively, she was a major contributor
for us. She is tough to stop. Offensive-
ly, she is very quick to the ball.” Omlid
earned second team all-MWC honors
for her performance. And her killer in-
stinct made her the Panthers’ top of-
fensive threat. “She was our go-to,”
Mendazona said. “She could put the
ball away. I expect that she will do big
things for us next season.”
SETTER
Emma Classen
Dallas
Classen, a sophomore, was the key to
making Dallas’ offense go. “Emma is
one of the most athletic kids I have
ever coached,” Dallas coach Shana
Lavier said. “She was able to get to
most every second ball because of
her pure athleticism. With a 26-inch
vertical, she was able to put a big
block up as a setter. Her left hand
made her an offensive threat of her
own.” Classen earned second team all-
MWC honors for her performance and
was a big part in Dallas’ success dur-
ing the 2016 season.
OUTSIDE HITTER
Alex Dowdell
Central
The senior came into her own in
2016. Dowdell led the Panthers in
kills (203) and in aces (26) and was
second in digs (172). Dowdell
earned an all-league honorable
mention for her performance during
the season. She was invaluable to
the team’s success, Mendazona said.
“She was the voice of the Panthers
on the court,” Mendazona said. “She
put in the work to become the play-
er she is. She has an excellent work
ethic and a strong commitment to
her team.”
LIBERO
Jackie Juarez
Perrydale
The junior libero was a key player
during Perrydale’s run to the state
playoffs in 2016. Juarez, who earned
first team all-Casco League honors,
was one of the Pirates’ unques-
tioned leaders. She helped an inex-
perienced squad find success in
league play. “We were very depend-
ent on her for her great defense,”
coach Denise Dickey said. “Every
match she played left a lasting im-
pression. She, in my opinion, is one
of the best defensive players in the
state. She was the core of our very
young team.”
RIGHT SIDE
Megan Ronco
Central
The senior right side hitter’s true
value was defined by versatility.
“Megan was one of those kids that
has played every position for us,”
Lavier said. “Last year she was a mid-
dle blocker. This year, she was a
right side for us. She had a great at-
titude about it and was a leader on
the team.” Despite moving positions,
she found ways to excel and thrive
in her new roles. Along the way, she
earned an all-league honorable
mention.
LIBERO
Elizabeth Chavez
Central
The sophomore defensive special-
ist/libero became one of the Pan-
thers’ most important contributors
during the 2016 season. Chavez had
202 digs, a 2.20 passing average, and
18 aces. “Elizabeth is another talent-
ed player I have been fortunate to
coach,” Mendazona said. “… Defen-
sively, she did a great job of reading
plays and anticipating where she
needed to be. She was our libero
who chased down and laid out for
every out-of-system ball off the
court. Every point was important to
her, as it should be to all. She has an
aggressive, jump-float serve that she
earned many aces from.” Chavez,
who earned an all-league honorable
mention, and as only a sophomore,
has the potential to become one of
the team’s, if not the league’s, best
players. “I’m very excited to see her
grow,” Mendazona said.
COACH
Claudine Mendazona
Central
Mendazona helped Central navi-
gate a difficult Mid-Willamette Con-
ference to earn a spot in the state
playoffs. “She gives you praise
when you do something good,”
Dowdell said. “She would invite
other coaches into our practices to
help her see things that she wasn’t
seeing. She wasn’t always the most
cheery coach. We knew when we
did something bad, she would pun-
ish us, like she would make us run
for our errors. It helped everyone
realize we need to stop making so
many errors.”
—
The 2016 Itemizer-Observer all-region
volleyball team was selected by Sports
Editor Lukas Eggen, along with heavy
input from area coaches.
Dowdell: Volleyball career won’t end in high school
Continued from Page 12A
“Coach would always get
after us seniors to step up
and be a leader,” Dowdell
said. “I thought, why not
me?”
By the end of the sea-
son, she was no longer the
quiet player content with
following. Dowdell was
t h e t e a m’s f u l l - b l ow n
leader, which makes her
the 2016 Itemizer-Observ-
er’s Volleyball Player of the
Year.
—
When Dowdell’s family
moved to Independence
prior to her eighth-grade
year, it meant a big lifestyle
change.
Before the move, she
helped out on her uncle’s
cattle ranch with various
chores and work with hors-
es. Dowdell never had time
to play sports, but moving
into the city changed all
that.
“I just wanted to play a
sport,” Dowdell said. “I had
some friends who played
volleyball, so I went out. I
thought I would play for a
year or two, but that I
wasn’t going to be very
good at it.”
Turns out she was a natu-
ral. She made Talmadge
Middle School’s “A” team her
eighth-grade year.
“Our coach Andrew Fran-
cis would tell me how much
potential I have,” Dowdell
said. “I thought, let’s see how
far I can go.”
Her biggest challenge?
“There are a lot of rules I
had no clue even took
place,” Dowdell said. “You
think your job will be easy,
but you see quickly that it
takes a lot of talent to be
able to pass and set.”
She made junior varsity
her freshman year of high
school, then varsity her
sophomore season.
“My junior year, I thought
this is really fun,” Dowdell
said. “I want to do this for
the rest of my life.”
She had all the physical
tools to succeed. But some-
thing was holding her back.
“She used to be very quiet
on the court,” Mendazona
said. “She was somewhat in-
timidated by her team-
mates.”
Since Mendazona’s re-
quest of her senior to lead,
Dowdell shed her quiet na-
ture.
“You earn the trust of
other players,” she said.
“When you’re talking on the
court, or you’re there to
make the play, you can help
inspire other players and
they trust you more. That
benefits the team.”
On the court, she was a
versatile player, able to fill in
at any position needed.
“I think I was better at
reading the opposing
teams,” Dowdell said. “I
knew what they were doing
and was better at moving to
the spot they were going to
hit or put the ball before it
gets there.”
Dowdell led the Panthers
this season with 203 kills
and aces (26) and was sec-
ond in digs with 172.
She was also the one to
lead the team in warm-up
stretches or give encourage-
ment during a tough stretch
in a match.
“Alex grew tremendous-
ly, mentally and physical-
ly, in her game,” Menda-
zona said. “… I was
pleased with her growth
on the court and seeing
her take a leadership role
and working hard to be a
better player.”
Dowdell hopes that vol-
leyball can carry her even
further.
The senior plays on a
club team with the hopes
of getting her name out to
a number of colleges.
“Coaches would tell me I
could play at either a Divi-
sion II or Division I school,”
Dowdell said. “If they think
so, hopefully college coach-
es will.”
Time will tell where vol-
leyball takes Dowdell, but
the journey has been fun
thus far.
“It’s amazing to see how
far you can come with dedi-
cation and hard work,”
Dowdell said.
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Dallas: Ford leads swim
team against Silverton Panthers drop home-opener
Continued from Page 12A
SWIMMING DROPPED BY
SILVERTON : Senior Jolie-Rae
Ford finished first in the girls
200-yard freestyle with a time
of 2 minutes, 6.16 seconds
during Dallas’ swim meet
against Silverton on Dec. 6.
She also won the 100 freestyle
(58.21 seconds).
Ryan Kennedy took first in
the boys 200 freestyle
(2:07.94). Kennedy also placed
first in the 500 freestyle
(5:40.83). Gabe Applegate won
the boys 100 butterfly
(1:20.16).
Dallas’ boys and girls swim
teams lost to Silverton on Dec.
6. The boys fell 117-44, while
the girls lost 132-29.
Dallas competed at Cres-
cent Valley Tuesday after press
time. The Dragons host the
Paul Mannen Invite Thursday
at 2:30 p.m. in a special event.
“Dallas has had an invita-
tional in previous years,” coach
David Morelli said. “I contin-
ued the tradition last year.
When I read about Paul after
his death and that, as the Ath-
letic Director of Dallas High
School, he encouraged invita-
tional tournaments in Dallas, I
asked permission from the
school and the aquatic center
to name our annual invitation-
al after him.”
Mannen, who died on April
12, served as Dallas’ AD from
1996-99. He was inducted into
the Oregon Athletic Directors
Association’s Hall of Fame in
2009.
The invitational will be a
way to honor all that Mannen
contributed.
“I know that in his retire-
ment he continued to be pres-
ent in the community,” Morelli
said. “... Like Paul, I believe that
an invitational brings teams
from around the area into Dal-
las.”
A shadow box with Paul’s
swim gear and a plaque that
will list the champions of the
invitational each year.
WRESTLING FINISHES
FIFTH AT ROSE CITY CHAM-
PIONSHIP: Dallas’ wrestling
team finished fifth at the Rose
City Championship on Saturday.
Joseph Foster (126 pounds)
finished second to lead the
Dragons. Treve Earhart (third,
182), Clay Coxen (fourth, 182),
Cody Janssen (fifth, 170) and
Ryan Bibler (sixth, 113) also
placed.
The Dragons will compete
at the Liberty Invitational in
Hillsboro Saturday at 9 a.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL LOSES
TWO: Dallas’ girls basketball
team lost to The Dalles 58-50
on Dec. 6 before falling to
Churchill 39-37 on Friday. Stats
were not available. The Drag-
ons (0-3 overall) played South
Eugene Tuesday after press
time. Dallas plays at Hillsboro
on Friday.
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Dallas’ boys and girls swim teams fell to Silverton on Dec. 6.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral’s boys basketball team
lost its home-opener 60-53
to Philomath on Friday. The
Panthers also fell to Liberty
58-56 on Dec. 6.
Alec Barba scored 18
points to lead Central
against Philomath, while
Peter Mendazona added 14,
but the Panthers were
outscored 27-8 in the first
quarter and could never re-
cover from there.
“We had a tough start
on Friday,” coach Tim
Kreta said. “We had a hard
time matching their ener-
gy for the first eight min-
utes. The kids battled the
rest of the game, but
couldn’t quite make up
that difference.”
Barba scored 30 points
against Liberty, and Andrew
Barry added 13 points.
“It was a hard-fought
game,” Kreta said. “We got
down early and needed to
battle back defensively. We
cut the lead to one in the
fourth quarter, unfortunate-
ly we could not hit a few cru-
cial free throws down the
stretch.”
Central went 14-for-25
from the free-throw line.
The Panthers (1-2 overall)
play at Stayton on Friday be-
fore hosting Cascade Mon-
day at 7 p.m.
GIRLS BASKETBALL FALLS
TO GRANTS PASS: Central’s
girls basketball team lost to
Grants Pass 38-35 on Dec. 6.
Meagan Mendazona scored
a game-high 11 points to lead
the Panthers, while Lexi Barba
and Katelyn Trevino each
scored eight points.
C e n t r a l ’s ( 2 - 1 o v e r a l l )
game against Summit was
canceled. The Panthers play
at Stayton on Friday before
hosting Cascade Monday at
5:30 p.m. and Churchill on
Dec. 21 at 7 p.m.
PERRYDALE ROUNDUP
Girls basketball earns victory
Itemizer-Observer staff report
PERRYDALE — Perry-
dale’s girls basketball team
defeated Livingstone Ad-
ventist 36-9 on Dec. 6.
But coach Terry Newton
knows there’s plenty to
work on.
“We’re playing five to six
freshmen and sophomores
at least 80 percent of the
game, and there are things
that need to get better,”
Newton said.
The Pirates remained
undefeated on the season,
but a home game against
Crosshill Christian Wednes-
day (today) at 5:30 p.m. and
at Falls City Friday at 5:30
p.m. will provide better
tests of where the team is
at.
“Crosshill
with
Willamette Valley Chris-
tian are the favorites in the
league, I would say,” New-
ton said. “I want to see us
come out and play them re-
ally tightly. Falls City, it’s
the Polk County challenge,
and we’ll have to get after
it.”
The Pirates remain very
much a team that is work-
ing out the kinks. But New-
ton is pleased with
progress being shown day
in and day out.
“I want to see steady im-
provement,” Newton said.
“You can see it in practices.
They are starting to put to-
gether things and under-
stand concepts better.
Sometimes I’m seeing yel-
low and they’re seeing
green, but it’s all part of the
process.”
BOYS BASKETBALL WINS
TWO: Perrydale’s boys basket-
ball team defeated Living
Stone Adventist 56-57 on Dec.
6 and C.S. Lewis 67-35 on
Monday.
Five players scored in dou-
ble figures for the Pirates
against C.S. Lewis, including
Jacob Pope who was also dom-
inant on the boards, nearly
recording a double-double.
“We’ve been looking for
him to do that all season,”
coach Brian Domes said. “Mon-
day was probably our best bal-
anced-scoring game of the
season.”
Perrydale plays Crosshill
Christian Wednesday (today)
at 7 p.m. before playing at
Falls City Friday at 7 p.m.
“ We’re excited to play
Crosshill. They’ve been to the
state tournament the last
three years and we want to
see where we are against
them.”
FALLS CITY ROUNDUP
Girls basketball defeats Mapleton
Itemizer-Observer staff report
FA L L S C I T Y — Fa l l s
City’s girls basketball team
defeated Mapleton 38-24
on Saturday.
The Mountaineers led
29-8 at the half.
Sarah Mack scored 11
points to lead the Moun-
taineers. Amara Houghtal-
ing added 10 points, Gracie
Tadlock scored nine, and
Emma Burgess scored eight
points.
Falls City lost to Crosshill
Christian 43-11 on Dec. 6.
T h e b oy s b a s k e t b a l l
team lost to Crosshill
Christian 40-28 on Dec. 6
and fell to Mapleton 52-46
on Saturday.
Austin Burgess led the
team in scoring each
game, including 17 points
against Mapleton and 14
points against Crosshill
Christian. Jeremy Labrado
added 13 points against
Mapleton.
The boys and girls teams
play at Jewell on Wednes-
day (today) before hosting
Perrydale on Friday.
The girls game begins at
5:30 p.m. with the boys
game following at 7 p.m.