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A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 Herald Sports Prep Roundup: Cougars gunning for strong inish Echo splits Saturday matches with Powder Valley, Cove The 2016 season has been a positive one for the Echo Cougars — so far, at least. Through 21 matches, Echo has won 17 of them — equaling their win total from 2015 — and have dropped a grand total of 14 sets in those 21 matches. But the Cougars know there is still work to be done throughout the inal seven games of the regular season. That work started on Saturday when Echo hosted two of the top four teams in the Old Oregon League in Powder Valley and Cove, and the Cougars inished the day 1-1. Echo started the day with a 3-1 loss to Powder Valley (10-25, 20-25, 25-13, 19-25) but rebounded with a strong game to defeat Cove (25-20, 25-22, 25-14). “We just didn’t get going quick enough against Pow- der, that was our biggest downfall,” Echo coach Jan- ice Scott said on Saturday, “but we were able to get it together (against Cove).” Against Powder Valley (10-2, 4-0 OOL), Alyssa Ray led Echo with 12 kills on offense and was one of four players to inish with 100 percent success serv- ing. Hannah McCarty had a solid game with six kills and three aces behind Ray, while Samantha McQuown turned in four kills and four aces. Overall the Cougars played a very defensive game against Powder Val- ley, showing some tentative- ness throughout the irst two sets before coming alive in the third set. “I was very proud to see them battle back,” Scott said. “They didn’t quit, they had the grit all the way through.” Echo battled Powder Valley tough for the major- ity of the fourth set, forcing numerous ties and keeping the lead within a point or two. But in the end, Powder Valley found some momen- tum at the end of the set and rolled to the victory. It was the second time Echo had lost to the Badgers this season, falling 2-0 (25- 15, 25-21) at Powder Val- ley’s tournament on Sept. 17. “They really cover the loor well, which makes it hard to get kills,” Scott said of the Badgers. “With that we have to try and get them out of their system and free up some space to get some free balls in there, but we didn’t do a good enough job today.” The Cougars had ap- proximately 60 minutes to prepare for the next game against Cove, with a portion of it spent in the locker room talking over what the team needed to do to start quicker and play better in Game 2. “We talked for a while and they felt like they let themselves down (against Powder Valley),” Scott said. “The girls really just want- ed to come out and redeem themselves and were deter- mined to be better ... and they were.” Once the teams were ready and the starting whis- tle blew, Echo went to work and followed through on their redemption. The Cou- gars communicated better, moved throughout the loor better, and hit better against Cove and the scoreboard showed it as they rolled to the sweep. The offensive success was a team effort against Cove, with six players regis- tering two kills or more. Ray led the way again with nine kills while McCarty had eight. Echo also registered a .303 hitting percentage in the game — one of their most eficient games this season. Scott said the team will need to work on their mental approach. “I think they need to stay mentally focused down the stretch,” she said. “They need to put together com- plete games like they did today against Cove where they just start on top and go up and up. “We need to be all in or all out.” IRRIGON 2, CONDON/WHEELER 0 — At Moro, the Irrigon Knights spent their Sat- urday playing in a ive-team, round robin tournament where the Knights went 3-1. Irrigon (14-7, 2-0) won its irst two matches against Portland Waldorf, 23-25, 25-13, 15-6, and Sherman, 25-17, 25-17, before falling to South Wasco 25-23 and 25-13. But the Knights picked up the pace again in consolation play with a 2-0 win over Condon/Wheeler (26-24, 25-20) to inish off the day. Leading the Knights statistically were junior Mya Chapman (25 kills, 25 assists), freshman Emma Combes (22 kills, 19 digs, 18 blocks), and junior Taylor Davis (7 kills, 10 digs, 11 blocks). Irrigon will return to league play on Friday when it hosts Burns at 4 p.m. ECHO 3, PINE EAGLE 0 — At Echo, despite what coach Janice Scott called “one of the ugliest wins we’ve had,” Echo remained undefeated in Old Oregon League play with scores of 25-16, 25-15, 25-18 on Friday. Scott said it seemed like her squad was distracted with homecoming activities going on all week, but strong serving that provided 15 aces helped keep Echo (16-3, 5-0 OOL) moving against winless Pine Eagle (0-8, 0-4). Samantha McQuown led the Cougars with seven aces, and team-highs in kills were Alyssa Ray with nine and Hannah McCarty with eight. McCarty also had a team-high 10 assists. HEPPNER 3, DUFUR 0 — At Dufur, the Mustangs got back above .500 with a non-league win over the Rangers by scores of 25-20, 25-19, 25-23 on Friday. Heppner (9-8) also played Perrydale in a neutral-court match-up, but a inal result was not reported. The Mustangs are 0-2 in the Columbia Basin Conference, and were looking for their irst win on Tuesday when they hosted Weston-McEwen in a game too late for our press deadline. Check www. HermistonHerald.com for results. WESTERN MENNONITE 3, UMATILLA 0 — At Salem, the Pioneers handed the Vikings their 10th loss in a row on Friday in non-league play with scores of 25-12, 27-25, 25-18. IRRIGON 3, UMATILLA 0 — The 2016 sea- son has been quite a ride for the Irrigon Knights volleyball team. After winning a combined 13 games over the past three seasons — and a 4-17 record just last year — the Knights have started their irst year in Class 3A on a completely different level, reaching the 10-win plateau and holding an above-.500 record in mid-September. On Thursday night Irrigon added one more win to that total, beating the Umatilla Vikings 3-0 in its Eastern Oregon League home opener. Irrigon (11-6, 2-0 EOL) beat the Vikings 25-12, 25-19, and 25-23. “I’m so proud of how well my girls played in our second league game to- night,” Irrigon coach Laura Combes said. “We were solid at the net, consistent with our serves and did a terriic job defensively!” Freshman Emma Combes had a mon- ster game with 14 kills for the Knights, while junior Mya Chapman added six and McKenzee Wilson had three. Other stat leaders for Irrigon included Wilson with two blocks and Mya Chapman with 12 assists. Statistics for Umatilla (1-12, 0-2) were not available. Irrigon will next travel to Sherman for tournament action on Saturday and Umatilla will aim to get back in the win column with tournament play at Salem Academy on Saturday as well. WESTON-MCEWEN 3, STANFIELD 0 — At Athena, the Weston-McEwen TigerScots snapped their four game losing streak with a hard-fought sweep of the Stanield Tigers on Thursday. “Stanield came out and played us incredibly hard,” Weston-McEwen coach Shawn White said. “I was pleased with how my girls matched (Stanield’s) intensity and I was pleased with how we stepped up tonight. “Overall we did a better job tonight, containing our errors and being more consistent.” Weston-McEwen (12-8, 1-1 CBC) won the match with scores of 25-11, 25-18, and 25-18. Statistics for the match were not available, but White mentioned Sarah Finifrock was the team’s most consistent player on the night. For Stanield (2-7, 1-1), head coach Angie Connell was very happy with the way her team performed in the match, even with the loss. “We played way better tonight than we have for most of the year,” she said. “We served better, we kept our attitude up ... it was nice to see them want to compete.” Kenzie Gonzales led Stanield with ive kills while Maya Gadsen had four kills to go with three aces. Shyanne Connell led the team with 21 assists. The TigerScots next play in a tourna- ment at La Grande on Saturday morning, while Stanield will host Culver on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. OTHER SCORES Waitsburg (WA) 3, Riverside 0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-19) Ione 3, Horizon Christian 0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-19) FOOTBALL COEUR D’ALENE (ID) JV 52, IRRIGON 18 — At Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, the young and inexperienced Irrigon Knights were simply overmatched by the talent of Coeur d’Alene’s JV team — a big-school 5A program in Idaho — and traveled home with a 52-18 defeat. “We played really well at times, and then we looked like a JV team ourselves at times,” Irrigon coach Steve Sheller said. “We have a young team that is doing the work it takes to get better and I’m proud of the way they just kept ighting.” Irrigon (1-3) trailed Coeur d’Alene 28-6 at halftime, with sophomore running back Lino Covarrubia scoring the team’s only touchdown of the half. Covarrubia scored one more touchdown in the second half and inished the game as the team’s leading rusher with 131 yards. Omar Vera also scored a touchdown for Irrigon on Saturday, and sophomore Josh- ua Aguilera had a big second half out of See ROUNDUP, A11 Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports STORM HANDS BULLDOGS FIRST LEAGUE LOSS Lackluster ofense prevents Hermiston from scoring By ERIC SINGER Staff Writer The Hermiston defense did all they could to contain the Summit Storm on Friday night. The unit intercepted Summit quar- terback John Bledsoe twice, forced and recovered one fumble, and held the Storm to just 51 rushing yards. But in the end, it just wasn’t enough. Hermiston wanted to keep up to Summit’s fast pace on offense in the game, however the Bulldogs could never ind a rhythm as the defending state 5A champion Storm went on to win, 27-14, under the lights of Ken- nison Field. Sophomore quarterback Andrew James completed just 19 of 35 pass attempts for 178 yards and two inter- ceptions, in his third varsity start. “You can’t be a young quarterback and play good all the time,” Hermis- ton coach David Faaeteete said after the game. “There’s still the learning curve and gaining that experience. Things just didn’t go our way throw- ing the ball and he’ll learn ... he’s a great kid who loves the game and he’s going to get better.” The Bulldogs (1-3, 1-1 Special District 1) had plenty of opportuni- ties to gain momentum and put some scoring drives together, but turnovers and a lack of execution simply let it slip away. The miscues started almost immediately, as on the game’s open- ing drive, Hermiston used a couple of quick passes to get into Summit (3-1, 2-0) territory, but on the fourth play of the game James made a bad throw on a go route which was picked off by the Storm in the red zone, stopping momentum. Then following a Summit punt, Hermiston again drove into Storm territory before failing to convert on a third and fourth down at the 40 yard line. In the second through fourth quarters, Hermiston forced three to- tal Summit turnovers but could not do any damage on offense, gaining a combined six yards of offense on those next three possessions. “We had our opportunities, that’s for sure,” Faaeteete said. The Bulldogs were able to ind the STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY Jonathan Hinkle (28), of Hermiston, gains yardage as Summit’s works to get in tackling position Friday at Kennison Field. end zone twice, with the irst score coming early in the second quar- ter. Following Summit’s irst score, Hermiston put together a 59-yard drive that ended with a 17-yard corner route touchdown pass from James to Dayshawn Neal to tie the game at 7-7. The key play of that drive came just one play earlier, when James connect- ed with Tucker Salinas on a 4th and 6 from the Summit 39 for a gain off 22 yards to set up the score. Then in the third quarter, once again following a Summit touchdown, Hermiston started from their own 20 and drove 80 yards for the touch- down, though 63 of it was gained on one play when Jonathan Hinkle broke through the Summit front line and sprinted away for the touchdown. On the other side, Bledsoe gave the Hermiston defensive backield issues for the majority of the game. The se- nior inished 22-33 for 311 yards and four total touchdowns. He scored the game’s irst touchdown on a one-yard plunge early in the second quarter to give the Storm a 7-0 lead, and then threw two long touchdown passes — a 38-yarder to Brayden Durfee and a 24-yarder to Dawson Ruhl — show- ing off his strong right arm. But the play that will sting the Bulldogs defense the most came just past the seven minute mark in the third quarter. Staring at a 4th and 17 from the Hermiston 32, Bledsoe took the snap from the shotgun, evaded a pair of Hermiston would-be tacklers, and then sprinted up the middle of the ield and diced his way into the end zone, putting Summit up 27-7 at that point. “Summit came up here, they played, they competed, and they just beat us,” Faaeteete said. “We matched up pretty well, but Bledsoe was on to- night and picked apart our coverage at times.” Though Bledsoe did have success against Hermiston’s secondary, the Bulldogs’ front seven gave the quar- terback plenty of its in the game. The unit was active throughout the game, constantly pressuring Bledsoe. Hermiston recorded ive total sacks in the game, led by senior linebacker John-Henry Line and senior defensive tackle Ty Knutz with two sacks apiece. “Those guys really came alive to- night,” Faaeteete said. “We had a 5-6 man rotation in there tonight, trying to keep fresh legs against the up-tem- po offense and everyone was making plays.” Now Hermiston will look to re- group before it hits the road again on Friday against Hood River. Bulldogs dig deep, beat Bucks Hermiston volleyball wins thrilling rivalry match in ive games By MATT ENTRUP Staff Writer Hermiston’s volleyball team snapped its three- match losing streak in thrilling fashion with a 3-2 conference win over the ri- val Pendleton Buckaroos on Thursday at The Dawg- house. After dropping the irst game, the Bulldogs rallied for come-from-behind wins in the next two before hold- ing Pendleton off in the ifth game with scores 21-25, 25- 23, 26-24, 20-25 and 15-12. The Buckaroos (1-6, 0-3 Columbia River Con- ference) led the irst game from start to inish to hand the Bulldogs (5-6, 2-1 CRC) their eighth-straight defeat in battle, but Hermiston was determined to win the irst installment of the War on 84 this season. “In the irst game we didn’t have as much energy as we should have, and in the next matches we deinitely brought that,” said Herm- iston senior Hayden Mey- ers, who inished with nine kills and 14 digs. “I think it’s a mental thing, because playing your rival you just always want to beat them. I think that’s what came out of every girl, it sparked a ire in us. Deep down we all wanted to win.” Senior Kynzee Padilla paced the Bulldogs with 19 kills and 17 digs, and Herm- iston’s grit was on display at the end of the second and third games, which could have easily fallen the other STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY The Bulldogs react with joy after defeating Pendleton in game two Thursday night in Hermiston. way with Pendleton match- ing the Bulldogs statistical- ly. But Hermiston would not fathom defeat, and made the clutch plays needed to pull out the wins. “I think it was deinitely an eye-opener because we saw what we can do in such a situation where, we have to win this or else we lose the whole game,” Meyers said. “We had that in our mindset, ‘We have to do this.’ And I think that helped.” It was a revealing win for the Bulldogs in more ways than one as head coach Elise Fleming experienced her irst meeting between the teams. “This is my irst rivalry game in Hermiston so to ex- perience that rivalry in per- son was awesome and both teams deinitely delivered tonight,” she said. With Pendleton ahead 22-21 in the second game, Meyers tipped one over the net to knot the score, then Hermiston seniors Eboney Wilson and Maddy Juul gave Hermiston just its sec- ond lead of the night with one of their ive combined blocks to make it 23-22. Fol- lowing a Pendleton timeout, senior Clarissa Nitz brought up game point with an ace, but her next serve went long to give the Bucks a chance to extend the game. Juul came through for the Bulldogs, though, and ripped a kill off Pendleton’s block for the win. She in- ished the night with six kills. Pendleton led 24-23 in the third game following a kill up the middle by Rylee Gentner, but Juul tied it with a kill of her own, then com- bined again with Wilson for a block that put them in the lead. A long hit by the Bucks inished it off. Pendleton coach Amanda Lapp said it was a series that summed up the night for her team. “When we needed to execute unfortunately we weren’t able to execute the point,” she said. “We were playing probably a little tim- id when the scores got tight, and that’s where kind of the momentum shifts.” The Bucks had things go- ing their way in the fourth game and inished off the Bulldogs with kills by Haley Greb and Maureen Davies, who led them with 15 and 17 respectively, and held an early lead in the tiebreaker before Hermiston caught them at six points with kills by Meyers and Padilla. The teams traded errors to get to 7-7, and then a net infraction on the Bucks gave Hermiston the lead for good. Sophia Streeter (three kills) threw down a point at the net, and miscues by the Bucks stretched the lead to 11-7 before a Padilla kill capped the Bulldogs’ ive- point rally. Along with showing it has the mental fortitude to pull out the close matches, Fleming was proud of her team for showing progress in its serve-receive. “After our Tuesday game we igured out we really needed to focus on serve-re- ceive, did nothing but that at practice yesterday and it deinitely paid off for the girls,” she said. Hermiston hosted The Dalles on Tuesday in game action too late for the Her- ald’s press deadline. Check www.HermistonHerald.com for details.
