COOS BAY – Down two sets to none to the top-ranked 3A team in Oregon, Burns never lost hope in a Friday semifinal match versus Pleasant Hill at the OSAA / OnPoint Community Credit Union 2024 State Volleyball Championships.
The Hilanders, sparked by an outrageous effort from senior OH Akylah Kaino and never ending belief in their ability to come back, won the next two sets to knot the match and send the teams to a winner-take-all set to 15 points.
Down 12-8 in the fifth, Burns refused to belief that the match would end in defeat. Kaino, despite being exhausted from so many jumps and so, so many swings; scored, and scored, again, her sixth and seventh kills of the set.
That’s when Taylor Trent took over.
The junior setter pierced Pleasant Hill’s defense with a boring ace serve.
Then she did it again! And again.
AND AGAIN!
“It kind of happened,” Trent said. “I knew I had to make a play.”
Four straight aces and Burns, which was staring into the abyss just moments before, now led 14-12.
Cheyenne Green tooled the block for Pleasant Hill – her eighth kill of the set – to retore hope for the Billies. But hope would die seconds later, when the ensuing Pleasant Hill serve fell well short of cresting the net. Burns started celebrating before the ball even hit the twine. The Hilanders were going to the championship match!
Pleasant Hill came into the match with 28 kills against just one loss, a loss to Westside Christian that it avenged in the quarterfinals earlier in the day. That made winning the firsts two sets of the semifinal seem normal for a team that made the state championship match a year ago.
The first two sets, however, were very competitive. If Burns could clean some things up, a reversal of fortune was possible.
Pleasant Hill trailed 20-19 in the back-and-forth first set, before rattling off six in a row to finish. Sydney Brink had two kills and a block in the run. Claire Crawford’s slow-motion dump to the donut put the Billies ahead and Cheyenne Green served five straight at the end, with an ace tossed in for good measure.
Another late-game surge propelled Pleasant Hill to a 2-0 set lead. The Billies, despite brilliant passing and defense from Emily Kraus and Anna Crawford, led by only one at 19-18 before scoring six of the final seven points, including back-to-back-to-back aces from Claire Crawford to escape. Kaino was terrific for Burns, with seven kills in the set, including an instinctive swing you just can’t teach, but it wasn’t quite enough.
In the Burns huddle before the third set, Hilander players knew that it was not over.
“Our team is amazing, Trent said. “We have all the right people in all the right places. Our heads are right. We never lose hope.”
The comeback began in the third set. The Hilanders’ big guns, Kaino and 6-1 senior middle Caitlyn Horrell, sparked a 7-0 run to start; then, after Pleasant Hill recovered to within one at 12-11, Chloe Rothwell served Burns to another 7-0 run that proved insurmountable for the Billies. Kaino had eight kills in the set, including one last one that blunted a Pleasant Hill rally and sent the teams to a fourth set.
Burns (29-4) also won a seesaw fourth set to take the match to a deciding fifth set, the only fifth set all day at the 3A site. Pleasant Hill roared out of the gate to grab a 6-2 lead in the stanza but Burns rallied to tie at 8-8 on a Rothwell ace, The Hilanders then went into the lead, 15-12, on the strength of two Kaino kills and an ace serve from Trent. Down as many as four, Pleasant Hill rallied to knot things at 18-18, only to see Burns rattle off four in a row out of a time out, starting with Jocelyn Graham’s kill off of a perfect Trent set. Graham also had the final point of the set on an ace.
The fifth set started with each of the big hitters, Green and Kaino, lighting up opposing defenses. Green, an Oregon State recruit, had six early kills, to four for Kaino, to stake Pleasant Hill to an early 6-5 lead. The lead remained one at 9-8, until Pleasant Hill scored three in a row, sparked by Kraus’ point-blank dig and two more Green kills; to seemingly pull away.
Burns, however, never lost hope and found the rally it needed to complete the stunning reversal.
Kaino finished the match with 40 kills, a single-game high for any player in Oregon this year.
In the other 3A semifinal:
No. 2 Valley Catholic d. No. 6 Corbett, 25-21, 25-17, 25-10
Valley Catholic, which usually gets its production from its middles and high-scoring right side, turned to the left on Friday night to sweep to its second championship match appearance over the past three years.
Madison Sherby, who struggled to get even one kill in Valley Catholic’s quarterfinal sweep of Coquille, started off Game 1 with a kill and finished Game 1 with a kill. The junior OH also had another clutch kill and solo stuff in the end game, when the Valiants outscored Corbett, 4-1, after the Cardinals had pulled within one at 21-20. Ursula Harrington, Corbett’s power packed 6-1 senior middle, tallied six kills in the first for Corbett.
Tied at 15-15 in a fast-paced, competitive Game 2, Valley Catholic used two aces apiece from DS Sami Shivakumar and RS Addie Emerson as part of a 10-2 closing run that gave the Valiants control of the match up two sets to none.
Valley Catholic was in the exact same position a year ago, but could not hold the lead, as Sisters won three straight sets over the Valiants, denying them the right to defend their 2022 title.
There would be no denying Valley Catholic this year.
OH Taina Pinheiro had five straight kills, and eight for the set, for the Valiants, who stormed to an 18-3 lead to start the third set, and never looked back. MB Maeve Albert had two kills and a block late in the Valiants’ 25-10 win.
In the OSAA 3A quarterfinals:
No. 1 Pleasant Hill d. No. 9 Westside Christian, 25-12, 13-25, 25-23, 25-17
The top-seeded Billies avenged their only loss on the season, but it was anything but easy. After splitting blowouts in the first two sets, Westside Christian led most of the third set. Pleasant Hill hung in and eventually took the lead, 18-17, thanks to strong serving from senior setter Claire Crawford, and never trailed again. The Billies started the fourth set ahead 7-1 and never looked back.
Crawford was the Player of the Match for Pleasant Hill. She served the Billies to a 6-0 start to the first, which included three aces; and delivered smart sets and timely kills throughout. MB Ruby Jackson was also very effective and gave the Billies great energy and highlight-reel plays at important stages of the match. Libero Emily Krauss was steady and Cheyenne Green, the Oregon State recruit, got her usual complement of kills.
For Westside, an undersized team with only two senior starters, setter Ella Perry, all 5-4 of her, was a standout. What a dynamo! She was everywhere and a huge reason the Eagles are so successful. OH Jojo Christiansen also distinguished herself for Westside.
No. 5 Burns d. No. 4 Dayton, 25-21, 25-16, 25-20
With two freshmen and two sophomores in critical roles, and athleticism all over the floor, Dayton’s time is coming.
It just isn’t now.
With Akylah Kaino scoring at will with a full approach, Caitlyn Horrell leading a big-blocking front line and Jocelyn Graham serving lights out, powerful Burns found runs in every set, aided by Dayton miscues, to sweep the Pirates.
Burns, which has made the state playoffs in 30 of the previous 31 years -- with eight state titles all time -- played with the poise of a team with tournament experience. It proved to be an X-factor against a Dayton team playing at State for the first time in 24 years.
Dayton, which lost a close first set in part due to late errors, and which trailed by as many as 11 in the second in a decisive Burns win, came out hot in the third. The Pirates led 4-0 on the serve of senior libero Mylie Duran before 7-0 and 5-0 Burns runs did them in. Kaino had nine kills to close out the sweep. Including the clincher.
Duran and 6-0 freshman hitter/setter Kalysta Summerlin had strong matches for Dayton in the loss.
No. 6 Corbett d. No. 3 Santiam Christian, 25-18, 13-25, 25-18, 26-24
From the beginning, this match felt like it would go the distance. Both had two outstanding scorers, Ursula Harrington and Taylor Young for Corbett; Joya Euhus and Allison Curtis for Santiam Christian. Corbett, however, had an experienced, talented senior setter in Greta Miller. That and too many Eagle errors proved the difference and sent Corbett to the semifinals one year after the Eagles were blanked in the quarterfinal round.
In Game 1, Young had three kills and two aces over a six-point stretch that helped Corbett break open a 16-15 lead on its way to a 25-18 win. Corbett scored the first two points of Game 2, but Santiam Christian ran off the next eight on Allison Curtis’ serve to essentially end the drama. Curtis finished with four aces in the set and contributed on the left side as well in the dominating win.
Game 3 was close through the first 18 points with the big guns for each asserting themselves. Tied at 9-9, a tandem block from Harrington and Sammi Blume put Corbett on top for good. Two aces from Gracie Miller followed and the Cardinals never looked back. Harrington finished with six kills and two blocks in the set, which was capped by a sweet dump from Greta Miller.
The final set was nip and tuck until a 4-0 Corbett run put the Cardinals up 22-18 late. Harrington was a force in the end stages and gave Corbett three match points at 24-21, only to see Euhus score three straight to send it to extra point. Harrington put the Cardinals on top once more with a tip, then got Santiam Christian out of system with a tough serve, which led to one last error and the match for Corbett.
No. 2 Valley Catholic d. No. 7 Coquille, 25-11, 25-18, 25-20
When Valley Catholic plays, it’s always a Valiant effort. Coquille played gamely, particularly over the final two sets, but could not keep up with the more experienced side in the afternoon sweep.
Valley Catholic, looking to build on first- and third-place finishes over the past two years, made five serving errors in Game 1 but was otherwise flawless. The Valiants showcased their talents front row and back, starting with a Willa Kayfes kill to open the match and culminating in a Maeve Albert block. Valley Catholic methodically built its lead throughout the set. Coquille struggled to find any space to score. Holli Vigue had three kills in the first, but the Red Devils only had five total, which is no formula for success.
Coquille showed better in the final two sets, as Vigue scored with more consistency, Peyton Drake passed more well and Kaitlyn Johnson distributed well and even got a solo block on someone seven inches taller than she.
Addie Emerson had a big Game 2, as did setter Jaya McGregor; and middles Kayfes and Albert took over in the third, where Coquille got to 20 points, on a kill by Olivia Brophy, but no further, as Valley Catholic scored the last two, on a kill from Taina Pinheiro followed by a collaboration block with Albert to seal the sweep.
johnt@osaa.org
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