Polk County Sports
10A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • Datexxx
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Savage towers above competition
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Senior volley-
ball player Tristin Savage
towers above her team-
mates.
But she didn’t always have
all the pieces necessary to
turn into a dominanting
presence on the court.
“We used to call her baby
giraffe,” Dallas coach Shana
Lavier said with a smile.
“She was all arms and legs
and somewhat uncoordi-
nated when she was a
younger player.”
That is no longer the case
as Savage has become a
player opponents dread
dealing with.
“Now we call her the
Great Wall of T,” Lavier said.
—
The biggest changes in
Savage’s game came after
she focused solely on vol-
leyball. Before, she was a
multi-sport athlete.
The senior played on a
traveling club team during
the offseason, giving her a
chance to play against
some of the region’s top
players on a consistent
basis.
“It was crazy different,”
Savage said. “The speed of
the game was so much
quicker.”
The experience forced
Savage to play more aggres-
sively.
“I think I’m a lot more ex-
cited,” she said. “I bring
more energy back to the
team than I did before, and
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
Dallas senior Tristin Savage has grown into a dominat-
ing presence on the volleyball court.
I’m more confident in my-
self.”
That confidence has
shown up in a big way on
the court. Each of the last
four matches, Lavier said
Savage has recorded 15 or
more kills and has become
a consistent server.
“She’s stronger physically
and mentally,” Lavier said.
“She’s a dominant player.
Teams are threatened by
her. Not only does she
change their offense, it’s a
huge momentum swing to
have a middle blocker like
Tristin.”
As the Dragons approach
the end of league play, play-
ers hope individual success
evolves into team-wide suc-
cess.
The Dragons entered the
week 8-9 overall and 4-6 in
Mid-Willamette Conference
play – tied for sixth. The top
six teams in the league ad-
vance to the postseason.
The league season has
been uneven. For every win,
including victories over
Central and Crescent Valley,
there have been missed op-
portunities, including a
five-set loss to co-league
leader Lebanon.
“I think mentally we are
doing pretty well,” Savage
said. “I think we hold each
other accountable, but in
order to take that next step,
we need to do that a little
better. We need to push
each other to excel. It’s all
mental. When we’re focused
and mentally together as a
team, we win. When we let
it slip, we lose.”
The key is finding the
mental toughness in the
midst of a battle, Lavier
said.
“They become undisci-
plined,” Lavier said. “They
will sporadically flail an arm
out and panic. We are just
trying to work on staying
composed and taking care
of the frantic.”
The Dragons play at Cen-
tral Wednesday (today) at 6
p.m. Dallas will compete at
the Seaside Tournament on
Saturday before hosting
Woodburn Tuesday at 6
p.m.
“We just need to believe
in ourselves,” Savage said.
“If we think about our fun-
damentals, keep each other
accountable and have fun
doing it, we can beat any-
body.”
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
Cooper Butler has helped lead Perrydale’s football team.
Pirates
Continued from Page 8A
With a cast of largely new
players, the season has been
uneven.
But that hasn’t stopped
players from enjoying the
ride.
“I’m happy because I’m
on this team,” Avila said.
“The wins and losses don’t
matter as much. These are
kids I grew up with. Experi-
ence-wise, I don’t think any-
thing can replace this.”
Butler and Avila in partic-
ular know that this season is
focused on getting younger
players ready to break out in
the future.
That means sacrificing for
long-term success that the
seniors won’t be around to
see, but that’s OK with them.
“It’s weird because you go
from junior year looking up
to the seniors to people
looking up to you now,” Avila
said. “But we want to leave a
mark on the school in a good
way.”
Perrydale plays at Pilot
Rock Thursday at 6 p.m.
“As long as we stay fo-
cused, we can make these
last few games good ones,”
Butler said.
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Pirates win two
Itemizer-Observer staff report
PERRYDALE — Perrydale’s
volleyball team swept
Willamette Valley Christian
and C.S. Lewis to improve to
8-1 in Casco League play.
The Pirates defeated WVC
25-4, 25-18, 25-23 on Thurs-
day and beat C.S. Lewis 25-3,
25-8, 25-9 on Monday.
Perrydale (20-4 overall,
9-1 Casco League) played
C.S. Lewis Tuesday after
press time.
The Pirates play at
Cro s s h i l l C h r i s t i a n o n
Thursday and at Country
Christian on Tuesday.
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Boys soccer remains undefeated
Itemizer-Observer staff report
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral’s boys soccer team re-
mained undefeated after
beating Silverton 5-0 on Oct.
3, South Albany 2-0 on
Thursday and Crescent Val-
ley 3-2 on Monday.
Brandon Lopez scored
three goals against Silverton.
Javier Puente, and Evan
Hoover also scored.
Eduardo Gonzalez and
Hoover scored against South
Albany.
Lopez (two) and Sebast-
ian Diaz scored against the
Raiders.
“Overall, we have been
playing as a team and have
been playing with our hearts
and minds each game,”
coach Joe Orozco said.
The Panthers (9-0-1 over-
all, 3-0 Mid-Willamette Con-
ference) host Lebanon
Wednesday (today) at 4 p.m.
before playing at Dallas
Tuesday at 4 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL DOWNS
LEBANON: Central’s volleyball
team went 3-0 in league play,
defeating South Albany 25-15,
Omlid
25-15, 25-21
on Oct. 3,
Crescent Val-
ley 25-15,
29-27, 25-19
on Thursday
a
n
d
Lebanon 15-
25, 26-24,
16-25, 25-21,
15-12 on
Monday.
Krista Omlid had 19 kills and
26 digs against the Warriors,
who entered the match in a tie
for first place in the league
standings.
Sydney Nash had 34 assists,
Annika Riddell recorded eight
blocks and Elizabeth Chavez
had six aces.
The Panthers (9-7 overall,
5-6 MWC) host Dallas
Wednesday (today) at 6 p.m.
and play at Corvallis Tuesday
at 6 p.m.
GIRLS SOCCER FALLS: Cen-
tral’s girls soccer team dropped
a trio of league matches.
The Panthers fell to Silverton
7-0 on Oct. 3, South Albany 5-1
on Thursday and Crescent Val-
ley 10-0 on Monday.
Central (1-7 overall, 0-3
M W C ) p l a y s a t Le b a n o n
Wednesday (today) at 4 p.m.
before hosting Dallas Tuesday
at 6 p.m.
FOOTBALL DROPS HOME-
COMING GAME: Central’s foot-
ball team lost its Homecoming
game to Crescent Valley 33-25
on Friday.
“You know going into the
game it was going to be a big
game with a lot of big plays,”
coach Shane Hedrick said. “I
thought our kids battled very
well and had us in a position to
possibly win, but came up a lit-
tle bit short.”
Jesse Cable was Central’s
MVP. Peter Mendazona and Isa-
iah Abraham were named co-
offensive MVPs; Marcos Cedillo
was named Defensive MVP and
Braden Fuszek was named Spe-
cial Teams MVP.
The Panthers (3-3 overall, 1-2
MWC) host Lebanon Thursday
at 7 p.m.
B OYS XC P L AC E S 1 2 t h :
Central’s boys cross-country
team placed 12th at the Harrier
Classic on Saturday. The girls
team finished 13th.
Junior Jonathon Brown led
the boys with a 38th-place fin-
ish in 17 minutes, 3.60 seconds.
Senior Jaime Cantu finished
59th in 17:34.80..
Senior Bailie Hartford was
the girls team’s top finisher, tak-
ing 46th in 20:29.00. Diana Nye
placed 82nd in 21:52.10.
Central will compete at Cres-
cent Valley Wednesday (today)
at 4 p.m.
Don’t Miss News As It Happens!
The Itemizer-Observer will now offer its
Online Subscription at $20 per year!
Subscribers to the
Itemizer-Observer
newspaper
will receive
ONLINE ACCESS
at no additional cost.
To subscribe, please call us at
503-623-2373
Itemizer-Observer 147 SE Court St, Dallas • www.polkio.com