BEND – Understanding how tough the competition is going to be in the Southwest Conference this season, South Medford volleyball coach Robin Akpan was pleased with what she saw from her team against quality opposition at the Mountain View Invite on Friday.
The Panthers finished the round-robin event with a 2-1 record, defeating Thurston (22-25, 25-10, 15-9) and Caldera (25-15, 25-16) before falling short to the Sisters. (25-22, 25-20) at Mountain View High School.
“We are at a good starting point for the season,” Akpan said. “I think starting 2-1 at such a high level of competition, I’m impressed with where we started from.”
In three matches, senior outside hitter Katie Clevenger recorded 28 kills. Her best effort came in the first match against Class 5A Thurston, as she recorded 12 kills and four aces. Fellow senior Cameron Christian added 16 digs and three aces, but his run of six points down the service line in the second set helped permanently shift the momentum in the Panthers’ favor.
“I think early on we had some nerves in the first set against Thurston, but after they got through we really chased after him,” Akpan said. “It was fun watching the girls get into the system. I think we had good ball control and good defense.”
Lola Horton also had five blocks, while setter Baylee Davis contributed 17 assists.
Against Caldera, Clevenger recorded eight kills and 11 digs, and Davis was great defensively with 18 digs to go with three aces. Freshman middle blocker Mayen Akpan chipped in three spikes and two blocks and Naomi Johnson added four spikes.
The Panthers were timid in their final game of the night, which was also their toughest test against the Sisters. Clevenger finished with eight kills and eight aces, Davis had 20 assists while Mayen Akpan had five kills and three blocks, Johnson had three kills and three aces while Horton added two blocks and a pair of spikes.
“Clevenger was on fire and our setter (Davis) found all of our hitters and our last game of the day was a challenge for us,” said Coach Akpan. “Sisters is a strong team and it gave us something to go home and work for. They had a couple of strong hitters and we had to adjust to them and it was a little late to adjust. But we will see them again and we will know what to do.”
SOUTH OF SALEM 3, NORTH OF MEDFORD 2: North Medford had eighth-ranked South Salem on the ropes, but the Black Tornado couldn’t close out the Saxons in a five-set thriller 25-23, 17-25, 25-23, 25-27, 10-15 in the secondary North Medford.
North (1-1), following a season-opening win over Ashland, led South Salem (1-0) 24-20 in the fourth set before the Saxons, who reached the Class 6A quarterfinals last season, they could bounce back and take the final two sets.
Tornado senior Maddie Blake finished with 20 assists, while senior Olivia Stubenrauch and freshman Kristina Atonio had nine kills. Senior libero Amy Kloek recorded 26 digs and Ria Atonio added three aces for North.
North’s second-year middle blocker Nana Silafau had a great game defensively, posting 7 1/2 blocks.
CRATER WINS A PAIR: At Bend, Crater bounced back from a season-opening loss to No. 4-ranked Sheldon and earned a pair of wins over Burns and host Mountain View to finish 2-1 in the Mountain View Invite.
The Comets (2-1), ranked ninth in the Class 5A preseason coaches’ poll, played hard against the Irish before falling in straight sets, 25-23, 25-9, then rallied to beat the Cougars. 23-25, 25-19, 15-12 and the Class 3A Spinners 25-23, 25-21.
Senior outside hitter Kendra Bittle led the Comets in spikes in all three games, finishing with 28 on the day. Senior outside hitter Maddie Consina added 11 kills, while setter Kate Stidham had a combined 47 assists in the three games.
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Source: www.mailtribune.com