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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2017)
Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 8, 2017 13A PREP VOLLEYBALL Dragons fall to state champions in quarterfinals By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer HILLSBORO — Dallas’ volleyball team’s magical ride ended in the quarterfi- nals of the 5A state tourna- m e n t a t L i b e r t y Hi g h School. The Dragons lost to eventual state champion Bend 25-9, 25-17, 25-19 on Friday before falling to North Eugene 25-12, 25-13, 25-14 in the consolation bracket on Saturday. “The last time they made it this far was 27 years ago,” coach Shana Lavier said. “The girls were extremely nervous, especially that first set against Bend. The next two sets, they fought hard and competed well.” Dallas finished the sea- son with a 16-12 record overall – a stark contrast to the start of the season when the Dragons lost their first four league matches of the season. “The girls just started be- lieving in themselves,” Lavier said. “We worked on the mental part of the game and bringing a positive en- ergy each day. They really started believing that they could accomplish great things this season.” The result was a run to the state tournament that included an upset over No. 6 Marist Catholic in the first round of the state playoffs. “I told them don't re- member our last match,” Lavier said. “The match against Marist was one of the best matches I've ever been a part of. I want the girls to focus on that.” Dallas was one of three teams from the Mid- Willamette Conference to advance to the quarterfi- nals. The Dragons will lose seven players to gradua- tion, leaving some big shoes to fill next season, but Lavier is confident in the talent coming up through the ranks. She hopes they will see that they have the potential to accomplish big things on the volleyball court. “The best part is we had several girls who were on JV last year,” Lavier said. “You’re never sure how everyone is going to mesh, but we had 11 amazing young women. Really good human beings. They are kind and compassionate and really fun to be around. I think it’s a great thing for the younger girls to see they can do great things, and you don’t have to be a four-year varsity starter to do it.” That included helping excite the community. “The fan support was huge,” Lavier said. “Dallas police and fire sent our girls off on Friday. It’s amazing how our community em- braces and gets behind our youth and our programs.” Mountaineers Continued from Page 12A Labrado finished with 16 carries for 161 yards and three touchdowns on of- fense, and five solo tackles and an interception on de- fense. Jesse Sickles threw for 117 yards and two touch- downs, and ran for 38 yards and three touchdowns. Noah Sickles added 18 carries for 155 yards. Austin Burgess had four catches for 80 yards and two touch- downs on offense, and two solo tackles, three assisted tackles and a sack on de- fense. Falls City’s attention now turns to Camas Valley. “This is the best team we’ve played this year since we played Dufur,” Cook said. “We’re not going to be able to make mistakes. … They throw all kinds of for- mations at you. There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors. They’ve got some speed and are a 50/50 team. WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP Class 5A State Football Who: No. 6 Falls City vs. No. 3 Camas Valley. What: Class 1A state football, quarterfinals. When: Saturday, 1 p.m. Where: Roseburg High School. Admission: Adults, $8; students, $6. What’s at stake: The winner advances to the semifinals Nov. 10-11. They’ll run it 50 percent of the time and throw it 50 percent of the time. Defen- sively, they play good, sound gap defense and tackle well.” Saturday will be unchart- ed territory for the Moun- taineers. This is the first time Falls City has ad- vanced to the quarterfinals in 67 years. “It’s an exciting time for the kids,” Cook said. “They are doing a great job taking it for what it is. They’re not blowing it up. A lot of them haven’t had this kind of suc- cess, but we’ve just to go stay the course, believe in LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Emma Classen (5) goes up for a block against Bend on Friday afternoon. what we tell them, execute and let the chips fall where they may.” Saturday’s matchup will be a challenge, but Cook said the Mountaineers are ready to leave it all on the line. “A lot of times the teams are pretty evenly matched, and it comes down to who makes the fewest mis- takes,” Cook said. “This group of kids seems to rise to the occasion. … I’m prouder than heck of the kids. They’ve embraced this and are continuing to make believers out of peo- ple.” Football falls to Azusa Pacific Itemizer-Observer staff report MONMOUTH — Western Oregon University’s football team lost to Azusa Pacific 41-16 on Saturday. The Wolves led 13-7 after the first quarter thanks to an 8-yard t o u c h - down run by Devon Duckworth Fortier and a 2-yard touchdown pass from Nick Duck- worth to Paul Revis. B u t Azusa Pa- cific held the Wolves Revis to a field goal over the final three quarters to pull away for the victory. Duckworth finished the game with 243 yards and a touchdown. Western Oregon (2-8 over- all, 1-6 Great Northwest Ath- letic Conference) hosts Simon Fraser Saturday at 1 p.m. in the team’s season fi- nale. VOLLEYBALL DROPS TWO: Western Oregon University’s volleyball team lost a pair of con- ference matches last week . The Wolves lost to Concor- dia 25-23, 25-17, 25-19 on Oct. 31 Bettinson b e f o r e falling to Montana State, Billings 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 21- 25, 15-12 on Thursday. Sierra Stultz had 19 kills and one ace to lead the Wolves against Montana State, Billings. Alisha Bettinson recorded 18 kills, one block and one ace. WOU (6-17 overall, 2-14 GNAC) plays at Alaska Anchor- age on Thursday and at Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday. MEN’S BASKETBALL TO HOST TOURNEY: Western Ore- gon University’s men’s basket- ball team will host the GNAC/PacWest Challenge Fri- day and Saturday to kick off its 2017-18 season. ]WOU will host Point Loma Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Fresno Pacific Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Wolves went 18-13 overall and 13-7 in GNAC play during the 2016-17 season. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL OPENS REGULAR SEASON AT HOME: Western Oregon Univer- sity’s women’s basketball team will begin its 2017-18 season at home when the Wolves host the WOU/Hampton Inn D2 Shootout on Saturday and Sun- day. WOU will play Dixie State Saturday at 2 p.m. and Cal State, San Bernandino Sunday at 2 p.m. The Wolves finished 8- 19 overall and 4-16 GNAC dur- ing the 2016-17 season. Wolves: Ribich pulls away for win LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Central junior forward Brandon Lopez fights to gain pos- session of a loose ball against Marist Catholic on Nov. 1. Central Continued from Page 12A “It was a heart-breaker,” senior Aaron Padilla said. “But that’s soccer.” Central entered the match with hopes of a deep run, but instead found itself mak- ing an earlier-than-expected exit. “I wish we got a little far- ther,” coach Joe Orozco said. “ We d i d n’t f i n i s h o u r chances. I guess that’s just how it goes sometimes. Sometimes you stick to your plan and it doesn’t work. We had some really good (scor- ing) chances but just couldn’t put it away. We just couldn’t.” Marist Catholic took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. The Panthers had several shots on goal throughout the rest of the match, including a shot that ricocheted off the goalie, but Central could never quite find the back of the net. “Marist played and de- fended well,” Orozco said. “If we don’t put them in, we don’t win. That’s what hap- pened here.” Marist Catholic lost to La Salle 3-0 in the state quarter- finals on Saturday. The Panthers finished the season with a 12-2-1 record overall and 6-1 mark in Mid- Willamette Conference play. Central won its first league title since joining 5A. “To me, this season was great because we got a league title,” Padilla said. “ T h a t ’s s o m e t h i n g w e haven’t done since 2008. We worked hard through the summer and season. De- spite the short playoff run, it was still a very successful season and I’m very proud of my teammates and coach- ing staff.” The Panthers accom- plished a lot during the 2017 season, but Orozco wanted a happier finish to a strong year. “I was just hoping for a better ending,” Orozco said. Continued from Page 12A But Ribich took little time to celebrate his individual championship. As quick as he could, Ribich was track- ing how his teammates were doing. Nading placed 13th in 30:28.9. Parker Marson fol- lowed in 32nd (31:05.2), with Tyler Jones (36th, 31:12.5 and Josh Dempsey (39th, 31:16.2) rounding out the team’s scoring run- ners. “I’d count two for that team, three for this team,” he said. “I knew Chico (State) won (the team title), but then I was like, who is in contention right now? I was nervous. I knew it was going to be close.” Turns out, it was closer than even Ribich thought. Western Oregon and Simon Fraser were tied. The tiebreaker was head to head finishes for each team’s top five runners. The Wolves had a 3-2 edge. “It was special for Josh (Dempsey) and I because that was the last race we’ll have in a Western Oregon uniform in Oregon,” Ribich said. Now, WOU is headed to nationals in Indiana on Nov. 18. It’s the next step in estab- lishing the Wolves as one of the west’s distance powers. “It starts like a fire,” Ribich said. “It only takes an ember to get the whole forest burning. When I ar- rived, the atmosphere was different. I credit the fact that everyone caught fire with what we want to ac- complish is possible. No one is setting their limits low.” That belief built slowly over time as runners like Ribich found success on a national level. “For me, it started my sophomore year,” Ribich said. “I qualified for nation- als. I set that standard for myself, and I had the mind- set that nationals needs to be a normal meet, not something I’m chasing.” Other runners, like Tyler Jones, arrived as a quiet, timid freshman, but devel- oped into strong, motivated runners, Ribich said. Last spring may have marked a watershed mo- ment for the program. “I think the distance medley relay team (in track) winning a national title was a turning point in our pro- gram,” Ribich said. “If we had taken second in that race by one hundredth of a second, I don’t think it would have had as big of an impact. It was a tone setter. It motivated us to put in the work.” The result has been a team that believes it can ac- complish great things and are seeing the results to back it up. The Wolves are out to make sure Saturday wasn’t the highlight of their sea- son, but rather another mark in their progression. “We were third in the re- gion. That’s a big stepping stone,” Ribich said. “But it doesn’t get us a trophy at nationals. It doesn’t solidify us as a program. We still have work to do.” Running them down WESTERN OREGON ATHLETICS/for the Itemizer-Observer Western Oregon senior cross-country runner Kennedy Rufener looks to pass runners during the NCAA Division II West Region race on Saturday. Rufener finished 13th overall and received an individual invitation to compete at the national meet on Nov. 18 in Indiana.