FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 12, 1997
Mustang volleyball team captures fourth at state
Receives sportsmanship trophy
By Molly Rhoa
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The Heppner Mustangs went to
the University of Portland's
Chiles Center to compete in the
2A State Volleyball Tournament
November 7 and 8 and not only
earned the fourth place trophy,
but also brought home the award
for sportsmanship. The Mustang
fans sailed through the Gorge in
flying V formation to be witness
to, and cheer on the team that has
just completed the best year of
volleyball in Heppner’s history.
The Mustangs demonstrated
that they showed up to play and
nearly knocked the top-ranked
Santiam Christian Eagles off
their perch in the first match late
Friday afternoon. After a hard
fought three games, the Heppner
squad ended up losing the match,
15-12, 12-15, 10-15.
The Mustangs came out with
intensity in the first game and
Lexi Matteson smashed down a
kill on the Eagles' first serve to
set the tone and earn Heppner the
sideout. Santiam Christian was
able to pull out to a 5-1 lead
before the Mustangs circled their
wagons and gradually pulled
ahead, 6-5. The Eagles' setter.
Dam Arlyn, scored points six
through eight before Annie
Hisler and Matteson joined
forces to block down a hit.
Amber Peck went back to score
points seven through nine, two of
these off aces, to put the
Mustangs again up by one. The
Eagles tied the game at nine, then
a Jill Barber tip went off a
blocker to gain the ball for
Heppner. Jessica VanWinkle
scored point 10 with the help of a
block from Petra Elguezabal, and
11 off of a missed attack, to put
the Mustangs in the lead for
good. Jaci Hughes aced point 12
and scored point 13 on a missed
attack.
The Eagles battled back to
within one point before Jill
Barber scored 14 behind a kill
from
Annie
Hisler
and
Elguezabal finished up the
scoring with help from a
Matteson tip to win the first
game, 15-12.
The Mustangs were able to
sustain their momentum in game
two and jumped out to a 4-0 lead
before Santiam Christian came
storming back to tie it up. The
Mustangs were up 5-4 when
Eagle Shelly Boshart went back
to score points five through
eight.
It was obvious to
everyone except the line judge
that the Eagle attack on their
point nine attempt went long.
The
line judge had been
distracted at this critical point
due to a loose ball from the
match in the next court and it
was ruled a replay. This may
have been the pivotal ruling that
ultimately bumped the Mustangs
out of the winner's bracket.
Whatever the case, Boshart went
on to score three more points to
put the Eagles ahead 11-5 before
the Mustangs gained the sideout
off a penalty.
The Mustangs dug down and
battled back. Barber scored point
six with a Hisler kill, Elguezabal
scored point seven on a long tip
from Matteson, aced point eight,
and made points nine and 10
behind kills by Janelle Healy to
pull within one.
Santiam
Christian then pulled out to a 14-
10 lead before serving out the
back. Hisler aced point 11 and
scored the 12th point off a four
hit penalty then an Eagle hitter
shanked one off a double block.
Santiam Christian took that
opportunity to score game point
to win game two 15-12.
In game three the Mustangs
once again jumped out to an
early lead of 5-0 before the
Eagles came flapping back to tie
it up.. Heppner surged ahead 8-
5, only to have Santiam Christian
battle back and tie the score at
eight. Then an Eagle server went
back and served up points nine
through 14 before a hit went
wide. Hisler scored Heppner's
10th point with a kill from Jill
Barber The Eagles reclaimed the
ball on an errant Heppner hit and,
after a long rally, were able to
score game point to win the
game. 15-10, and take the match.
Hitting stats for the match had
Lexi Matteson successfully
hitting 14 of 17 attempts with
seven kills; Annie Hisler had six
kills hitting
18/19; Petra
Elguezabal killed seven balls,
hitting 13/15; Mindy Binschus
had two kills, hitting 5/7; Jill
Barber hit 8/8; Janelle Healy had
two kills; and Jaci Hughes'
incredible play in the backcourt
Annie Hisler (left) receives All-Tournament award.
The Mustangs collect the fourth place trophy.
prevented multiple Eagle kills.
Losing in the first round put
the
Mustangs
into
the
consolation bracket matching up
with the seventh-ranked Monroe
Dragons on Saturday morning.
The Mustangs eliminated the
Dragons, 15-11,9-15, 15-7.
In game one Heppner had the
first serve and Jill Barber started
off the action by acing the first
point. Monroe gained the sideout
but a kill by Annie Hisler
prevented them from scoring. A
service error turned the ball back
to the Dragons, but this time Lexi
Matteson prevented the score by
slamming down a kill. Amber
Peck scored point two off a net
penalty and aced point three
before a Monroe hitter shanked
one off of a Mindy Binschus1
block. Hisler again prevented a
Monroe score as she dinked to a
kill.
Monroe's Heather Wall was
able to score points one and two
before Binschus blocked a hit
down to the floor to take back the
ball. Jessica VanWinkle scored
Heppner's fourth point on a
missed attack and aced point five
before
Monroe's
Amssa
Meashintubby slammed down a
kill.
Binschus
prevented
the
Dragon's next attempt by
blocking down the hit attempt by
Meashintubby, then went back to
score the Mustangs sixth point
off a Monroe penalty. Heppner
was up 6-2 when Monroe's
Mandy Roler went back to score
points three through six to tie the
score. Lexi Matteson provided
the kill to gam the sideout for the
Mustangs.
Jill Barber scored point seven
with Petra Elguezabal providing
the block, aced point eight and
scored nine on a missed attack
before a Mustang attack went
wide.
Monroe scored their
seventh point but then were
unable to handle an Elguezabal
tip. Amber Peck scored point 10
on a four-hit penalty, aced points
11 and 12, and scored 13 with
help from a Jessica VanWinkle
block before losing the service
due to a Mustang penalty.
Monroe put up points eight and
nine and then was stopped by an
Annie Hisler kill. Hisler then
scored Heppner's 14th point on
an attack that went wide. A
Monroe hitter killed the ball for
the sideout. The Dragons were
able to score point 10 and 11 off
missed attacks by the Mustangs
then Barber slammed one down
to take the sideout.
VanWinkle scored game point
with a hit coming from Janelle
Healy and Jill Barber racking up
the kill to win, 15-11.
The Mustangs couldn't seem to
maintain their intensity in the
second game against Monroe and
quickly found themselves trailing
0-6. VanWinkle scored three
points off of a Binschus kill and
a couple of Monroe errors, then
the Dragons belched fire behind
the hitting of Meashintubby to
stretch their lead to 13-6.
Jill Barber scored point four
with Matteson providing the
block and point five on a tip kill
by Hisler before Monroe gained
another sideout. The Dragons
committed a net penalty to send
the ball back. Casey Ingraham's
service for the sixth point was
returned right back to Matteson
who leapt up and slammed down
the kill and Ingraham aced point
eight. Monroe regained the ball
only to serve into foul territory.
Lexi Matteson scored point
eight with Annie Hisler threading
the double block for the kill, and
point nine on a Binschus tip,
before the Mustangs turned the
ball over on a penalty. Monroe
went on to score the final two
points to end the second game 9-
15.
The Mustangs were back in full
force for game three as Jill
Barber served them to a 3-0 lead.
The Dragons answered with two
points before a serving error
turned the ball back to Heppner.
The Mustangs were unable to
score off Elguezabal's serve, then
allowed the Dragons to ace point
three to tie the score. Lexi
Matteson slammed down a kill to
prevent the go-ahead point and
the Mustangs never allowed the
lead to be challenged again.
Amber Peck scored Heppner's
third point. Annie Hisler scored
point four behind a Mindy
Binchus kill, point five with the
Dragons in the net, and point six
with the kill coming from Jill
Barber. The attempt at point
seven failed only after a long
rally.
The Dragons scored points four
and five before Barber slammed
down another kill to claim the
ball for the Mustangs. Jessica
VanWinkle scored points seven
through 11. Monroe was able to
post two more points with their
next two servers before serving
into the net and allowing
Elguezabal's service to finish off
the attack. The Mustangs took
the game and the match, 15-7,
and earned the right to play for
the consolation title.
Annie Hisler led the Mustangs'
attack
against
Monroe,
successfully hitting 23 of 25
attempts with eight kills, Mindy
Binschus went 14/17 with seven
kills; Lexi Matteson hit 15/18
with six kills; Jill Barber had six
kills from 10/13 hits; Petra
Elguezabal went 14/19 with four
kills; and Jessica VanWinkle
racked up two kills.
Heppner was matched against
the Gervais Cougars in the battle
for the fourth place trophy, and
the Mustang squad always
appeared to be in control as they
took the w in. 15-10, 15- 7.
Gervais scored the first point on
the first serve in the first game,
and that was the last time they
were in the lead, as their second
serve went into the net. Jill
Barber aced point one and scored
point two with an Elguezabal kill
for the Mustangs before Gervais'
Liz Howe slammed down a kill.
Elguezabal scored point three
with help from a Jessica
VanWinkle kill. Jaci Hughes
came up with the save for point
four, and points five, six and
seven came off Cougar's missed
attacks or penalties before
serving out the side.
Jaci Hughes racked up a back
row kill to prevent Gervais from
scoring and Annie Hisler served
point eight with Mindy Binschus'
shanking a hit off Cougar
blockers.
The teams traded sideouts for
the next four servers, then
Gervais was finally able to score
their second point. A hit from
Elguezabal threaded the double
block for a kill to earn the
Mustang sideout. Jill Barber
scored point nine with Hisler out-
tipping Gervais' 5'11" Howe, and
point 11 came with the help of
the save by Hughes and a tip-kill
from Matteson.
The Cougars were forced to
play defense and were trailing 2-
10 when they came slinking back
and, with their next six servers,
narrowed the lead to 7-10 before
the Mustangs jumped back into
the fray. Barber went back to
score point 11 with the kill
coming from Elguezabal.
Gervais scored their eighth off
a missed attack, then fouled off
the serve. Four servers later
Annie Hisler scored points 12
through 14 with strong net play
coming from Barber and
Binschus, then 5'11" Tiffany
Prinslow stuffed her attempt at
game point. Binschus racked up
a kill to prevent a Cougar point,
but Prinslow responded by
stuffing the next Mustang serve
put up by VanWinkle. Prinslow
scored points nine and 10 before
Binschus and Elguezabal teamed
up to block a hit and send
Binschus back to ace game point
off an attempted stuff to win the
first game, 15-10.
Jill Barber started off the
second game by scoring the first
point off a missed attack, then
the Mustangs were called on a
net penalty to turn the ball over.
Elguezabal
prevented
the
Cougars from scoring on their
first attempt with a tip kill, then
missed her serve to send the ball
back to the Cougars.
The
Cougars
took
the
advantage and scored two points.
Their lead was short lived as
Annie Hisler smashed down a
kill to give the ball over to
Brooke Boyer for the serve.
Boyer scored point two on a
Binschus kill and aced point
three before serving out the back.
Hisler had a tip kill on the next
Cougar serve to earn the sideout
and sending herself behind the
line. Hisler scored point four on
a back row kill from Elguezabal,
aced point five and earned point
six with a kill by Binschus before
her serve went long.
Barber silenced the Cougar
serve with a kill sending Jessica
VanWinkle to the batter's box.
VanWinkle scored point seven
with help from a Boyer save;
point eight came as the Gervais
setter twisted an ankle and
muffed the set (she didn’t come
out of the game) and she aced
Heppner ninth point before the
Mustangs turned the ball back.
Down 9-2, Gervais was able to
hold off the Mustang attack to
score their final five points.
Boyer served up Heppner’s 10th
point, but her attempt at 11 was
stopped by a Cougar kill. On the
Cougars' final serve Boyer went
Mindy Binschus goes up high for the return. No. 8 is Jessica VanWinkle.
down tor the save and the
Mustangs sent Annie Hisler back
to finish the job. Hisler aced
point 11, scored 12 on a missed
attack, 13 with a kill from
Binschus, 14 off of a shook up
Gervais squad. The game point
came with another Binschus kill
to claim fourth place and
Heppner's first state volleyball
trophy.
Mindy Binschus led the
Heppner hitters against Gervais
by successfully hitting 17/17
with 10 kills; Annie Hisler went
15/17 with eight kills; Lexi
Matteson was 16/16 with three
kills; Petra Elguezabal hit 10/11
with six kills; and Jill Barber had
three kills, hitting 11/12. Jaci
Hughes was picking up hits
everywhere in the back court and
provided a backrow kill.
"This is a wonderful team that
put out an outstanding effort,"
said coach Terri Gentry. "They
played as a team and never
backed off. This was an exciting
weekend that none of us will ever
forget.”
The Mustang team stayed to
watch Santiam Christian take the
championship in three games
over Amity, 3-15, 19-17, 15-12,
before
accepting
the
sportsmanship award and their
fourth place trophy.
Senior
setter/hitter Annie Hisler was
named to the all-state second
team.
Symphony, chorale to perform
The Oregon East Symphony and
Chorale will be in concert in
Heppner on Saturday, November
22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Heppner
Middle School gym. This will
mark the symphony's first
performance in Heppner.
There will be no admission
charge for the event which was
funded by the Morrow County
Unified Recreation District and
the Meyer Memorial Trust. The
Morrow County Arts Council
and Oregon East Symphony
Outreach also helped make
arrangements for the concert.
The evening, entitled "Vistas,
Visions and Voices", will start
off with the symphony's
performance of the beautiful
Symphony #3, written by well
known composer Johannes
Brahms. The second half of the
program will feature the Oregon
East Symphony's 55- voice
Chorale. The Chorale will
perform two selections by
contemporary composers. First
will be "Visions of St. John" by
John Ness Beck, followed by "To
St. Cecilia" by Norman Della
Joio. The chorale will be
accompanied by a special 16-
member brass, percussion and
piano ensemble.
Oregon East Symphony is
comprised of some 58 musicians
from all over eastern Oregon and
includes four members from
Heppner—Matt Jepsen. string
Local Oregon East Symphony players (left to right): Matt Jepsen,
bass; Laura McElligott, cello: Kathryn Unruh and Delanne Ferguson,
violins: and R. Lee Friese, music director and conductor.
bass; Laura McElligott, cello;
and Kathryn Unruh and Delanne
Ferguson, violins. Music director
and conductor of the group is R
Lee Friese of Athena.
Everyone is invited to attend
this special music opportunity.
Seating is available on a first-
come basis, so people should
plan to arrive early.
BMCC event planned Nov. 25
The public is invited to attend
Blue M ountain Comm unity
C ollege’s “Evening with the
President," on Tuesday, Nov. 25.
at the home of Louie and Betty
Carlson, 625 S. Chase St., Hepp
ner, from 5:30-7 p.m.
Dr. Nikki Harrington, president
of BMCC, will have a presenta-
tion at 6 p.m.
This event is co-hosted by the
Heppner Chamber of Commerce,
BMCC and the BMCC Founda
tion to celebrate BMCC’s 35
years of service to Umatilla and
Morrow counties. For more infor
mation, call 278-5935 or 422-
7040.