When Crane won its first-ever 1A title last fall, its star was Kortney Doman. The 1A Player of the Year had 37 kills, four aces and two blocks in the Mustangs’ four-set championship-match win over St. Paul.
Doman is now playing basketball at Southern Utah University, so it would have been natural to expect Crane to take a step back this year without the player who amassed almost 700 kills last year, the second highest total across all classifications in Oregon.
Nope!
On Saturday in Redmond, Crane used a more-balanced approach – and 15 aces -- to repeat as champions, sweeping past Union, 25-20, 25-10, 25-23, at the OSAA / OnPoint Community Credit Union State Volleyball Championships.
Third-year coach Maddye Wester knew she had a good team coming back, albeit with just one senior and no one taller than 5-10; but her response to OSAA’s pre-season questionnaire asking about the team’s prospects for 2024 was, “We hope to be a competitive team that repeats the league title and is a top contending team again at the state tournament.”
Indeed, over the first two weeks of the season, it was evident that Crane was trying to find its footing without Doman, who also was a beast defensively and the team’s natural leader. Over the Mustangs’ first eight matches, they were taken to the limit four times in wins and suffered a tournament loss to Scio.
Crane, however, lost just twice more the rest of the way, both in five sets to 2A schools Trinity Lutheran and Stanfield. The “spread the wealth” approach worked so well that the Mustangs (30-3) earned the No. 1 seed in the state tournament.
And it worked in the championship match against No. 3 Union, too. Sophomore middle Kaitlyn Siegner led the way, as usual, with 13 kills, 14 digs and four aces, but she had help offensively from the trio of Ava Bowen, Cara Goss-Bodily and Kamryn Dunten, who combined for 21 more kills. Sophomore Kendal Nichols, the second-year starter, had a big match with 32 assists and six aces. And libero Anita Peila stood out in the back row with nine digs and a team-high 15 receptions.
Crane was not a new foe to Union. The two teams faced off at the end of the regular season, with Crane having to work hard to secure the 25-15, 23-25, 25-20, 25-18 win.
“My team went into the game knowing it was going to be a battle,” said Union coach Madison Elliott.
And a battle it was, at least for two of the three sets.
Two kills early in Game 1 from Paisley Miller staked Union, which reached the final by sweeping both North Lake and second-seeded Umpqua Valley Christian; to a 4-2 lead. Crane rallied to take a 5-4 lead on a Siegner ace serve, but Union eventually surged to a 14-10 lead thanks to a run sparked by tough serving from junior Kimber Ricker. Two Siegner kills and a Bowen ace were part of a 4-0 Mustang run that knotted things at 14-14 as the teams headed to the home stretch.
The set was tied 10 times in all, the last at 19-19. That’s when Goss-Bodily sandwiched aces around kills from Dunten and Bowen as part of a definitive 5-0 Crane run that effectively put the game out of reach.
The second set was the only blowout of the match. The teams were tied at 4-4 early, and Union was still in touch down 11-6 when a Siegner kill opened the floodgates. Crane’s 11-0 run, which made it 22-6 Mustangs, included four aces from Nichols and two kills from Elaia Idoeta, the team’s lone senior.
Game 3 was the most competitive, but started out as a Crane blowout, as Goss-Bodily’s three kills helped the Mustangs take a 10-4 lead. Union responded with a 6-0 run to tie, which included two kills from sophomore Sawyer Shoemaker and a Paisley Miller ace. The Bobcats surged to a 20-17 lead late, on another Sawyer Shoemaker kill, and it appeared that the match might extend beyond three sets.
Crane had other ideas.
Dunten had three kills and Bowen added two as part of a 6-0 Crane run that put the Mustangs up three at 23-20. The last of Sawyer Shoemaker’s seven kills helped Union get within one, 24-23, but the Bobcats would get no closer. On the next point, Nichols fed Siegner, who put the ball away to secure Crane’s repeat.
Sawyer Shoemaker and Kaelyn Shoemaker each had seven kills and double-digit digs for Union, which hit less than .100 collectively and served just three aces to 15 for Crane.
“The state title game against Crane was a tough one,” Elliott said. “We had some hiccups and had a hard time coming out on top. I am proud of my girls and their outstanding achievements.”
Crane’s roster included seven sophomores, three juniors and Idoeta, the only senior. The Mustangs are a fair bet to win again in 2025.
In the 3rd/5th match:
St. Paul d. Umpqua Valley Christian, 25-19, 25-12, 26-28, 25-17
The Buckaroos used a total team effort to add a third-place trophy to last year’s second-place effort.
“Our team brought a strong offense but really read great on defense and covered the court well,” said Les Hiller.
Senior Audra Rose capped off a great final year with 33 kills. Fellow senior Josey Edwards had 17 kills. Freshman Lola Hiller led the defense with 18 digs. Sophomore Lila Wolf had 36 assists and freshman Annie Cavazos chipped in with 17 assists. Freshmen Sienna Meza and Emily Williams contributed strong blocking and junior Gabby Gleaves reached double digits in digs with 11.
“This young team will come back strong next year,” Hiller said.
In the 4th/6th match:
Imbler d. Powder Valley, 29-27, 25-23, 25-12
Imbler won its first trophy since finishing second in 2016 by taking down Powder Valley in straight sets. The Panthers rebounded from a difficult who quarterfinal loss to St. Paul on Friday by winning six straight sets on Saturday.
“After a tough first day of the tournament we couldn’t have asked for a better Day 2,” coach Jennifer Teeter said. “I am incredibly proud of our team for their performance, which showed our perseverance and mental toughness.”
Imbler, which won the Sportsmanship Award, placed senior OH Rachael Stirewalt, who averaged more than five kills a set, on the All-Tournament First Team. Jeytt Cant, Whitney Haddock and Olivia Haddock also played with distinction all tournament long.
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Central Christian and North Lake, which lost consolation matches Saturday morning to finish 0-2 in the tournament, shared seventh place, apropos for the fierce but also friendly league rivals that share a special bond one with the other.
