PREP ROUNDUP: South netters sweep past North
Katie Clevenger had a strong overall performance, and South Medford rebounded from a season-opening loss to defeat rival North Medford in volleyball Monday in the North Medford gym.
The Panthers evened their season record at 1-1 with a 25-19, 26-24, 25-17 win. It was the first match of the season for North Medford and its first-year coach, Josh Elbert.
“It was a great way to start out our season playing another 6A team,” said South Medford coach Robin Apkan, whose team fell to Cascade Christian on Saturday. “The girls came in really focused. We’ve been taking big strides at building our program, and there were a number of people who really came out fired up to play tonight. We played as a team.”
Clevenger, a 6-foot sophomore outside hitter, had nine kills, five digs, four service aces and a block.
“She really led us tonight,” said Apkan, “and our setters were really determined to get our offense running.”
Sophomore setter Baylee Davis produced 23 assists and had two aces, and senior libero Amanda Drane had 23 digs and two aces.
Junior outside hitter Emily Fliegel notched seven kills, senior middle blocker Evelyn Laupola had five kills and three blocks and senior middle blocker Kiya Jackson chipped in with three kills and two blocks.
North Medford threatened to change the complexion of the match in the second set when it took a 22-21 lead, but the Panthers rallied.
“We had a couple big swings and really good rallies in Game 2,” said Apkan.
North Medford fought an uphill battle, said Elbert, digging itself a hole in each game.
“We had some key misses at the wrong time,” he said. “We started developing some momentum, then get a good side out and would miss our serve and shift the momentum right back to South. It was just a little bit nerves, a lack of focus, I think.”
Senior outside hitter Katherine Rostel had 12 kills and two aces for the Black Tornado, and senior setter Hannah Drysdale registered 16 assists.
Senior libero Sara Hamlin led in digs with 10, and junior outside hitter Audrey Yechout had seven kills, four digs and a team-best three blocks.
CRATER 3, ASHLAND 2: At Central Point, Crater got off to slow start against Ashland before grabbing the momentum for a 21-25, 23-25, 25-10, 25-11, 15-11 season-opening triumph.
Senior outside hitter Tessa Frodge paced the Comets with 18 kills and five service aces, while senior libero Kylie Anderson amassed 27 digs and sophomore setter Kate Stidham recorded 51 assists.
Freshman outside hitter Abigail Winslow added 13 kills and sophomore outside hitter Madison Kocina 10. Senior middle blocker Avery Hanson had three blocks.
ROGUE VALLEY ADVENTIST 3, CHILOQUIN 0: At Chiloquin, Rogue Valley Adventist remained unbeaten through five matches with a 25-11, 25-6, 25-16 victory over Chiloquin.
Sophomore Emma Bischoff had 17 kills for the Red Tail Hawks, while senior Juliet Quave produced five aces.
Sophomore Destinee Quattrocelli recorded 12 assists, and sophomore Michaela Porter had three blocks.
Boys Soccer
PHOENIX 3, HIDDEN VALLEY 1: At Phoenix, Victor Martinez scored two goals to lead Phoenix at Colver Field in windy, rainy conditions.
Both of Martinez’s goals came in the first 40 minutes for the Pirates (2-0).
The junior scored in the 20th minute off a goal kick by junior Tucker Speaks, and he made it 2-0 in the 35th minute with a penalty kick after being taken down.
Junior Caden Gallegos gave Phoenix a 3-0 advantage in the 43rd minute after he took a pass from junior Jorge Mejia.
Hidden Valley scored about 15 minutes later.
Senior Dan Martinez and sophomore Roberto Hernandez led the Pirates’ defense.
ROGUE VALLEY ADVENTIST 4, ROGUE RIVER 1: At Rogue River, sophomore David Zamudio recorded a hat trick to power Rogue Valley Adventist to its first win of the season.
Zamudio scored in the second, 27th and 60th minutes — two were assisted by junior Alex Wiggers. Sophomore Jordan Melugin also tallied a goal for The Red Tail Hawks (1-1).
Rogue River (0-2) cut the RVA lead to 2-1 in the 45th minute on senior Zyles Perryman’s goal off junior Brayden Daniels’ corner kick.
Girls Soccer
HIDDEN VALLEY 8, PHOENIX 0: At Murphy, Hidden Valley charged to a 4-0 halftime lead en route to the triumph.
For Phoenix, sophomore goalie Maria Pyeatt had numerous saves as the Mustangs’ offense fired away. Sophomore defensive back Ruby Rector played a strong game for the Pirates (0-3).