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
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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.