A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2022
SPORTS
BAKER VOLLEYBALL
Bulldogs nip Vale, fall to Fruitland
Baker City Herald
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
Angie Malone, of La Grande, makes a call Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, at
the Hanna Cashell Memorial Tournament at La Grande High School.
Malone is one of 14 volleyball officials that belong to the Northeast
Oregon Volleyball Association, which serves schools in Union, Wal-
lowa and Baker counties.
Shortage of volleyball
officials major issue
BY DICK MASON
The Observer
UNION COUNTY — Jen-
nifer Stephens, a volleyball
official for the past 30 years,
remembers a time when the
Union, Wallowa and Baker
county region was flush with
high school volleyball officials.
The La Grande resident
said it was sometimes hard
for less-experienced officials
to get the match assignments
they wanted because the re-
gion had almost a surplus of
referees. The days when the
Northeast Oregon Volley-
ball Association, which pro-
vides officials for high school
matches in Union, Wallowa
and Baker counties, had
plenty of referees are a distant
memory.
The association is down to
16 officials this season, up to
two from a year ago, but still
well short of the optimum
of 20 to 24 officials needed,
said Karen Howton of Island
City.
This means local volleyball
officials will be stretched thin
again this year, keeping the
pressure on officials
“Last season, I was officiat-
ing five or six days a week. By
the end of the season, I was
dead tired. It is grueling, it is
easy to get burnt out,’’ How-
ton said.
Stephens agrees the short-
age puts great pressure on of-
ficials.
“We are on the run from
the start of the season until the
last playoff game,” she said. “I
don’t get to see much of my
family during that time.”
The shortage of officials
means that high school ath-
letic directors will again be
busy rescheduling games
when many teams are set to
compete at home on the same
day.
“You have to be flexible so
everybody can play,” said La
Grande High School Athletic
Director Darren Goodman,
adding that, for example, on
Tuesdays when La Grande,
Baker and Powder Valley high
schools are all set to play at
home, he will try to move La
Grande’s game to a Monday or
a Wednesday.
Imbler High School Ath-
letic Director Mike Mills also
said a lot of schedule juggling
is done to make sure that the
referee shortage does not pre-
vent any matches from being
played.
“There is a lot of give and
take,” he said.
Heidi Justus, commissioner
of the Northeast Oregon Vol-
leyball Association, credits
athletic directors with being
very accommodating.
“The athletic directors are
really great to work with,” she
said.
Justus said the shortage of
officials is partially due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. She
said that prior to the pan-
demic, the Northeast Oregon
Volleyball Association had
between 16 to 18 officials.
Some who stopped officiating
during the pandemic have not
returned, Justus said.
Stephens believes one of the
best ways to address the short-
age is to encourage younger
members of the association
to recruit their friends. such
as those they play intramural
volleyball with.
When encouraging people
to step forward, Stephens be-
More Information
The Northeast Oregon Vol-
leyball Association provides
training for everyone who
wants to become an official.
It is now signing up peo-
ple for training prior to the
2023 season. People who
are interested in serving as
officials for the Northeast
Oregon Volleyball Associa-
tion should send an email
to Heidi Justus at neovba@
gmail.com.
lieves it is important to con-
centrate on the contributions
people will make as officials —
without them, she said, girls
will not experience the joy of
playing high school volleyball.
“We need to focus on the
excitement of helping girls do
something fun, which helps
keep them in school,” Ste-
phens said.
Howton, who has offici-
ated volleyball for 21 years,
also said she is driven to
keep going because of what
it means to the girls playing,
student-athletes she gets to see
grow up right before her eyes,
while officiating not only high
school but also middle school
matches.
“I love every one of them,”
she said.
The camaraderie officials
share is also cherished by
Howton.
“You have fun traveling to-
gether. You get to know each
other well. Some of my dearest
friends are volleyball officials,”
she said.
Volleyball officials are paid
about $67 for matches involv-
ing schools in the Class 4A
to 6A enrollment classifica-
tions and about $64 for games
of schools in the smaller 3A
and below classifications. The
money is not eye popping but
Stephens said it is a sum peo-
ple like college students would
welcome.
“What student could not
use a a few extra dollars in
their pocket,” she said.
It took almost 2 hours,
but Baker finally van-
quished Vale in an epic
nonleague volleyball
match on Tuesday, Aug.
30, in the Baker gym.
Senior Jozie Ramos’ kill
was the final point as the
Bulldogs rallied from a 2-1
set deficit to beat the Vi-
kings 17-15 in the decisive
fifth set.
“The Vale game was
very intense, and I was
proud of the girls for over-
coming their challenges
to bring home the win,”
Baker coach Ali Abrego
said.
Fittingly, the final set,
which is played to 15
points rather than 25 as
with other sets, was a back
and forth affair.
Vale led 4-2 early, but
Baker then went on a run
to go up 11-7 and force a
Vale timeout.
The Vikings promptly
scored 4 straight points,
and the score was tied
at 12, 13 and 14 (to win,
a team needs to have a
2-point lead).
Baker took advantage of
two straight Vale service er-
rors to set up the conclud-
ing kill from Ramos, the
reigning Greater Oregon
League player of the year.
The Bulldogs forced the
fifth set with a strong per-
formance in the fourth.
Baker led 4-0, and ex-
tended the lead to 12-6 as
Sofia Hanson served sev-
eral straight points.
Vale staged a minor
comeback late, but Baker
closed out the set 25-19.
The Vikings broke open
the first set with a 7-point
run to take an 18-6 lead.
They went on to win the
first set 25-13.
The Vikings appeared
poised to take 2-0 set lead,
going ahead 19-17 before
Baker rallied.
A Ramos kill cut the lead
to 19-18, and Baker scored
the next 4 points, with
Kaydence Thomas serving,
to lead 23-19. Baker went
on to win 25-20 and even
the match.
Baker led 11-9 in the
third set, and forged a tie at
16, before Vale pulled away
to win 25-20.
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win 26-24.
But the Grizzlies, who had
multiple powerful hitters, won
the last two sets, 25-17 and 26-
24, to claim the match.
“Fruitland was a very good
team,” Abrego said. “Our
girls rose to their level of
play and delivered a great
performance despite being
tired.”
The loss to Fruitland was
Baker’s first on the young sea-
son, dropping the Bulldogs
to 4-1.
“I think losing keeps us
humble,” Abrego said. “It gives
an opportunity to grow. It was
a situation where our mis-
takes cost us the game, not
something they did which we
couldn’t adapt to. We will be
successful, as the kids are mo-
tivated and are eager to con-
tinue to work.”
In the JV matches, Baker
fell to Vale, 25-20, 25-23, 21-
25 and 25-21.
Against Fruitland, Baker
split the first four sets and led
14-11 in the decisive fifth set,
but the Grizzlies won the final
5 points.
In JV2 play, Baker beat Vale,
25-21, 19-25, 15-5, and beat
Fruitland, 17-25, 25-24, 15-5.
Fruitland match
After a break while Vale
played Fruitland, Idaho,
Baker returned to the court
around 6:30 p.m. to take on
the Grizzlies.
Baker led 23-19 in the
first set but Fruitland ral-
lied for a 25-23 win.
Baker returned the
favor in the second set,
scoring the final 4 points to
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Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Baker’s Jozie Ramos spikes the ball during a match against Vale on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, in the Baker
gym. Ramos had the match-winning kill against the Vikings.
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