There might be no better way to begin the high school volleyball season than a tournament played in Hawaii.
That’s where Henley opened the 2025 campaign, and despite the stress of managing a team of high schoolers on the random islands in the Pacific Ocean, Hornets head coach Sierra Patzke believes the trip did plenty for the growing group.
Fast forward a month later and Henley is 13-2 overall and off to a 2-0 start in the 4A Skyline Conference, sitting No. 5 in both the OSAAtoday coaches poll and OSAA rankings.
“Even in the bracket we were in, still some really good volleyball and it pushed us,” Patzke said. “It was really competitive. And you just get to play a ton too. Sometimes it takes us halfway through September before we’re getting that many matches in.”
Henley went 4-1 in the tournament following pool play with an 8-4 set advantage across the five best-of-three matches.
Not only did the Hornets see some top-shelf competition and win, but they continued to bond as a group as the roster is nearly the same as 2024.
“The team bonding was maybe more important than the volleyball side of things,” Patzke said. “We have a lot of kids coming back, but we have some new faces and new dynamics. I think just being able to spend that time together and kind of experience that together brings a new level to team chemistry.
“Even still, you ask them about the season and they want to tell people about Hawaii.”
Getting back on the mainland, Henley rattled off seven more wins, all sweeps of either three or two sets. 3A Cascade Christian put an end to the Hornets’ overall 10-match win streak when it defeated Henley 3-1 on Sept. 16.
The Hornets have bounced back with wins over Hidden Valley and Mazama, both 3-1 victories.
“I think we’re playing well. I would say we’re at where we expected to be,” Patzke said. “I think we have kids figuring things out that need to figure things out. … I think that loss to Cascade Christian was maybe kind of good for us, a little bit of an eye opener. There’s going to be a bit of a target on your back and we can’t show up and go through the motions.”
That small target was born out of the Hornets making it to Coos Bay last season for the 4A state tournament after winning the Skyline Conference and taking down Cottage Grove in round one of the state playoffs. Henley lost to Marist Catholic in the quarterfinals and lost to The Dalles in five sets in the consolation semifinals.
That squad had only one senior though, which has allowed for this year’s seniors like Kahlia Cage and Lanie Hadley to step up even more as leaders.
Cage, a four-year varsity player, has been playing that role for a few years now in a defensive specialist/right-side hitter mixed position.
Meanwhile, Hadley is an outside hitter who brings the energy for the Hornets with her swings and allows it to fire up the rest of the team.
“I think everybody falls back on (Cage) … She’s a kid that’s just a natural leader and has kind of taken on that role,” Patzke said. “(Hadley) hasn’t played as much as (Cage) in that role, but just a great kid who brings a ton of energy for us and kind of leads in a little bit of a different way.”
Then there’s the hard-swinging sophomore in middle blocker Makayla Schroeder. She leads the Hornets in kills and blocks while also sitting second in aces.
Schroeder, who was also a First-Team All-Tournament girls basketball player last year as a freshman, is simply an all-around student-athlete.
“She’s a great athlete, she kind of brings a new level of athleticism that we haven’t seen for maybe a couple years,” Patzke said. “She’s just kind of a special kid, great kid. A 4.0 student, three-sport athlete, just gets the job done.”
With nearly the same group back, last year’s trip to the state tournament was vital for a team with only one player who had that experience before. Patzke described her team as “a little wide-eyed” when it came time to compete for a state title.
In 2025, the focus remains on the day-to-day, but the standard has been set for this group. Making the tournament is still a goal, but it’s now a goal that includes being more competitive and going after that blue trophy.
“This year it’s like, ‘OK, we want to get there, but now we want to compete while we’re there,’” Patzke said. “Any team, you say you want to compete for a state championship and that’s obviously the ultimate goal. … I think the biggest focus is not trying to look too far down the road. Making sure we’re doing things every day that will get us to where we want to be.”
Lincoln aiming for PIL crown
With a new head coach and some emerging talent, Lincoln volleyball hopes to put an end to the reign of Grant in the PIL.
The Generals have won the league crown the past two years, but the Cardinals are 10-7 this year with some quality wins under their belt that have them up to No. 11 in the OSAA rankings, the highest of the PIL teams.
“We beat West Linn in two, and they took Jesuit to three, so I tell the girls we can hang with pretty much anyone out there,” Lincoln’s first-year head coach Charlie Rosa said. “And that’s our goal, to just go out there and focus on what we need to do, don’t worry about the other side and good things are going to happen in the end.”
The Cardinals have a pair of talented juniors in outside hitter Lily Mather and middle blocker/outside hitter Kathryn Urquhart.
Mather has a repeatable swing that consistently fires off difficult-to-block shots, meanwhile Urquhart uses her tall frame as a devastating blocker who can also slam some shots onto the floor.
“(Urquhart) has a really high volleyball IQ, she knows where to place the play,” Mather said. “When she’s in the air, she’s really high and she’s just kind of looking all over. She finds open spots on the court, and she can really find a hole in the block and hammer it to the ground.”
Lincoln opened PIL play with a sweep of Franklin and will host its own tournament this weekend before continuing league play next week. Grant however did win a Sept. 23 nonleague matchup with Lincoln 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-12, 25-21).
The rematch with Grant and official league matchup will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 16 at Lincoln, and could decide the fate of the PIL.
Big weekend ahead
It’s a special weekend of volleyball in and out of the state.
Six teams in Nelson, Jesuit, Sprague, South Salem, South Medford and St. Paul are all down south in Phoenix to compete in the Nike Tournament of Champions Sept. 26-27, which brings in some of the best teams from across the country.
Sprague and Jesuit are two of the seven remaining undefeated teams in Oregon.
State side, 5A reigning champion South Albany is hosting a tournament Saturday, Sept. 27 with some of the best 6A and 5A teams from Oregon.
The field includes three top-10 6A teams in No. 6 Forest Grove, No. 7 Oregon City and No. 10 West Linn. It also has seven top-10 5A squads in No. 1 Crescent Valley, No. 2 Bend, No. 3 South Albany, No. 5 Crater, No. 8 West Albany, No. 9 Wilsonville and No. 10 Caldera.
Outside of tournament play, 2A will see a clash between the top-two ranked squads in No. 1 Crosshill Christian and No. 2 Portland Christian.
Both the Eagles and Royals are undefeated at 12-0 and 9-0, respectively, and the match is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 at Crosshill Christian.
austinw@osaa.org
Subscribe
