A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2019
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A SOLID
FOUNDATION
Hermiston’s Kendall Dowdy has been named the
All-East Oregonian Volleyball Player of the Year.
Clark-Gammell
earns Frontier
Conference
honors at DE
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
College of Idaho senior
defensive end and former
Hermiston player Landon
Clark-Gammell earned Frontier
Conference second-team hon-
ors, joining 15 teammates on
the all-conference team.
“It really means a lot,” said
Clark-Gammell, a 2015 Herm-
iston High School graduate.
“It’s a huge deal; there are some
ballers in this league. It’s nice to
be recognized by the coaches.”
Clark-Gammell fi nished his
fi nal season with the Yotes with
50 tackles, 14 tackles for loss
and 6.5 sacks.
Coyotes quarterback Dari-
us-James Peterson was named
the Offensive Player of the Year,
while College of Idaho’s Mike
Moroski was named Coach of
the Year.
C of I had seven players
named to the fi rst team, and
nine to the second team.
Clark-Gammell was disap-
pointed fellow Hermiston grad
and Yotes receiver Keegan
Crafton did not get recognized.
“I was surprised,” he said. “I
thought he’d be on there some-
where, for sure.”
The Yotes (11-1), saw their
17-game win streak come to an
end in the NAIA Football Cham-
pionship quarterfi nals Saturday
against Grand View (13-0) in
Des Moines, Iowa. The Vikings
beat the Yotes 14-6.
Hermiston’s
Stubbs,
Dowdy earn
MCC honors
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Hermiston setter Kendall Dowdy is a leader on the court
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
H
ERMISTON — Every
team needs a player who
creates a foundation on
which to build upon.
At Hermiston, that
player is Kendall Dowdy.
The versatile junior is the Bulldogs’
main setter, but she also hits, has a wicked
serve, goes after every ball on serve
receive like a libero, and is a leader on the
court.
It’s those traits that earned Dowdy
the East Oregonian All-Area Volleyball
Player of the Year honor.
“When I took over this program her
freshman year, she was the best gift I
could have been given,” Hermiston coach
Amy Dyck said. “She works hard to get
better at her position every day, and holds
herself to a higher standard. That helps to
shape what this program stands for.”
Over the course of 18 matches, Dowdy
had 293 assists, 93 kills, 167 digs and 32
ace serves. She earned honorable mention
honors as setter in the highly competitive
Mid-Columbia Conference.
“She is defi nitely one of the integral
parts on the court,” Dyck said. “She is a
6-1 (offense) setter who can attack at the
level she does. She makes everyone’s job
easier. Seriously, without Kendall on the
court, we still have really good players,
but not the players we have.”
Dowdy, who runs more on the shy side
off the court, said she was humbled by the
honor.
“It was defi nitely a surprise,” she said.
“But I feel I earned it. I worked my butt off
the past three years. This made my year. It
inspires me to do better next year.”
Dowdy is joined on the fi rst team by
teammate Halee Stubbs, Tresslyn McCurry
of Ione/Arlington, Zuri Reeser of Stan-
fi eld, Jesse Manning of Weston-McEwen,
Sydney Wilson of Heppner, and Makenna
Collins of Irrigon.
Stanfi eld’s Blaine Ganvoa was named
Coach of the Year. He led the Tigers to a
19-9 record, and a berth to the 2A state
tournament for the fi rst time since 1990.
Youth movement
After skipping the fourth grade, Dowdy
ALL-EO VOLLEYBALL TEAM
Player of the Year: Kendall Dowdy, jr.,
Hermiston
Coach of the Year: Blaine Ganvoa,
Stanfi eld
First Team
Kendall Dowdy, jr., Hermiston; Halee
Stubbs, sr., Hermiston; Tresslyn McCurry,
sr., Ione/Arlington; Zuri Reeser, fr., Stan-
fi eld; Jesse Manning, jr., Weston-McE-
wen; Sydney Wilson, jr., Heppner;
Makenna Collins, jr., Irrigon.
Second Team
Emma Olson, sr., Weston-McEwen;
Hailey White, sr., Irrigon; Tylene Skillman,
sr., Echo; Grace Vertrees, so., Hermiston;
Brooke Howland, jr., Stanfi eld; Savan-
nah Sharp, sr., Stanfi eld; Zoe Jones, sr.,
Pendleton.
was 13 years old when she fi rst stepped
on the court for the Bulldogs, but Dyck
instantly knew she was a keeper.
“At tryouts her freshman year, she
wasn’t even trying out for setter, but once
I saw her play pepper, I thought I hit the
jackpot,” Dyck said. “When you have a
freshman that good, and have players to
build around her, you can’t ask for more.
She genuinely doesn’t believe how good
she is. She is selfl ess, humble and giving,
and that translates to setting. She is a way
better high school setter than I ever was.
She has calmness and composure on the
court I never had.”
Dyck played college volleyball at Ari-
zona, and was the Wildcats’ starting setter
for two years.
As good as she is at setting, Dowdy is
just as dangerous at the service line.
“When she steps back to the service
line, we know she will rattle off points,”
Dyck said. “She also has one of the hard-
est serves I have tried to pass. I won’t do
it anymore.”
The bonus of playing varsity ball at
such a young age is Dowdy has had the
advantage of playing with, and learning
from, players like Breena Wadekamper,
Sophia Streeter, Ireland McDonough and
Stubbs.
“Because she was so young setting
for us on varsity, these players have truly
been her sisters and shaped her to who she
is,” Dyck said. “At least once a week in
practice, she would do something, and we
would wonder how she did that. When she
turns off that 16-year-old girl in her head
and plays, it is amazing.”
Stubbs has played with Dowdy the
past three years, and loves her competi-
tive edge.
“Kendall is one of my favorite people
to play with because she is competitive
and makes you a better player,” Stubbs
said. “I’ve always seen Kendall as a leader
— someone to look to when we need to
know what to do. She keeps us ready.”
Dowdy appreciates the help she has
gotten over the years.
“Some of the players realized how
good I could be and brought me out of
my shell,” she said. “They taught me how
to be a leader. My favorite part is seeing
other girls succeed. If I have a good set
and they get a kill, I love that.”
Dowdy, who moved to Hermiston
from Heppner in middle school, is good
friends with Wilson. They were dominant
together when they were younger, but the
move was good for Dowdy’s game.
“I wouldn’t be the player I am,” Dowdy
said of the move. “Now that we are in
the Washington league (MCC), there are
really good players. It keeps pushing me to
be better. I just want to be the best leader
and teammate I can be, and hold people
accountable.”
Three-sport athlete
Dowdy also plays basketball, and
throws shot put and discus for the track
team.
She threw a personal best of 39 feet,
11¾ inches in the shot put at the MCC
Championships, and just missed out on a
trip to state in the shot put, fi nishing fourth
at regionals. It was her fi rst year participat-
ing in track.
“Apparently, I’m pretty good at track,”
she said. “The track program is really wel-
coming, so I thought I’d try.”
Basketball and volleyball are a tie in
terms of which she likes best.
“I love volleyball,” she said. “I also
hate to losing. That makes me come back
the next day and work harder.”
After being shut out of the
honors last year, two Hermis-
ton players were named to the
Mid-Columbia Conference vol-
leyball team.
Senior libero Halee Stubbs
was named to the second team,
while junior setter Kendall
Dowdy landed on the honorable
mention team.
“It defi nitely feels good
to see our girls get recogni-
tion in the league,” Hermis-
ton coach Amy Dyck said. “It’s
nice to have the support of other
coaches to recognize the work
our girls have put in.”
Stubbs had 242 digs to lead
the Bulldogs.
Dowdy fi nished the season
with 293 assists, 167 digs, 93
kills and 32 ace serves.
Walla Walla senior middle
hitter Hannah Hair was named
the MCC Player of the Year,
while Richland’s Bob Raidl was
named coach of the year.
It’s the second year in a row
a Walla Walla player has earned
MVP honors. Last year, it was
Noelani Helm.
The Bulldogs fi nished 5-9 in
MCC play and earned a trip to
the District 8 tournament. They
fell two wins shy of making the
3A state tournament.
MID-COLUMBIA
CONFERENCE
VOLLEYBALL
First Team: Hannah Hair, sr.,
Walla Walla; Marin Mackey,
jr., Richland; Sage Brustad, sr.,
Richland; Sianna Iverson, sr.,
Chiawana; Kylie Thorne, sr.,
Chiawana; Payton Peders-
en, jr., Richland; Madeline
Gebers, jr., Kennewick; Ryan
White, jr., Richland.
Second Team: Grace Morby,
jr., Kennewick; Brooke Thorne,
jr., Chiawana; Autumn Larson,
so., Kennewick; Taryn Vrieling,
so., Kamiakin; Delaney Frame,
sr., Kamiakin; Brooklyn Ford,
sr., Kamiakin; Angela Sullivan,
sr., Chiawana; Halee Stubbs,
sr., Hermiston.
Honorable Mention: Anya
Solferino, sr., Richland; Hailey
Daves, sr., Richland; Monica
Miller, sr., Walla Walla; Jordann
Missett, jr., Southridge; Kendall
Dowdy, jr., Hermiston; Abigail
Bonnington, jr., Chiawana;
Graysen Banta, jr., Kamiakin;
Mya Wood, so., Walla Walla.