Bend, Summit, Sisters, Trinity Lutheran and Central Christian advance to volleyball state tournaments

In the final volleyball match played in the Bend High gym, the third-seeded Lava Bears took down No. 14 Central 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-19) Saturday afternoon to give the nearly 70-year old gym one final moment of glory.

The Bend High gym, which opened in 1956, will be torn down next year, but the champions of the Intermountain Conference gave it a proper farewell with a sweep to advance to their fifth-consecutive state tournament.

“It is bittersweet,” said Bend coach Kristin Cooper, who has led the program since 2007. “I love this gym and I’m very sad to see it go. It is all the little things, changing my kids’ diapers in the stands, practicing with them on my back. There are a whole lot of memories here. But I’m looking forward to making more in the new one.”

“Our energy was good on the court and our talk was super loud,” said senior libero Rylee Smith. “Everyone was playing with a lot of heart because it was our last game in this gym. It was fun to play well and go to state.”

This marks the fifth-straight year that the Lava Bears have advanced to the Class 5A state tournament. Bend will take on No. 6 West Albany at 10 a.m. Friday morning in the Class 5A quarterfinals at Forest Grove High School. Should the Lava Bears advance, it will be the fifth year in a row that they have reached the semifinal round.

“Everyone makes sacrifices for this team,” Smith said. “There isn’t one person who is slowing down or doing something to bring down the team. Everyone works together. That is what you have to do to go to state five years in a row.”

Summit overcomes early deficit to get past Silverton

The Summit volleyball team celebrates after scoring a point in the Storm’s 3-1 win over No. 12 Silverton in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Saturday evening. (Brian Rathbone/The Bulletin)

Playing in its first home playoff game since 2019, there were admittedly some nerves among the Summit players early in the first round playoff match against No. 12 Silverton Saturday evening.

“Our seniors had never seen us host a playoff game so no one of us knew what it was going to be like,” said junior setter Jessie Doorn. “We weren’t sure if there was going to be a student section or not. It was a new experience for everyone.”

Added senior outside hitter Grace Ozolin: “We didn’t make it to state last year so we were kinda  nervous. But I think that energy fueled us by the end of the match.”

And in the first set, those nerves were apparent. The upset-minded Foxes traveled over the pass and stole the first set from the fifth-seeded Storm 25-16.

But from there on it was all Summit, who won the next three sets to win 3-1 (16-25, 25-11, 25-18, 25-21) to advance back to the state tournament after missing it a year ago. The second set was particularly impressive, turning an 8-8 score into a resounding 14-point win.

“We just needed to calm down a little bit,” said first-year Summit coach Kevin McColloch. “I thought we matched up pretty well with them, but they came out and knocked us in the teeth a little bit. They not only won, they won convincingly. But once we found our rhythm it was easy to keep going.”

The Storm will play in the 5A state tournament against No. 4 Crater at 8 a.m. Friday in Forest Grove.

“This is my favorite team I’ve ever played on,” Doorn said. “I’m really looking forward to finishing out the season with my girls and having a lot of fun.”

Trinity Lutheran avenges last year’s playoff loss

The Trinity Lutheran volleyball team celebrates a point in the Saints’ 3-1 win over No. 15 Kennedy in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs Saturday afternoon. (Brian Rathbone/The Bulletin)

A year ago, the Trinity Lutheran volleyball team was in a very similar situation, playing at home as the higher seed on the verge of making it to the state tournament.

But the Saints were swept and had their season end.

It was a different result this season. There was no upset Saturday afternoon, as No. 2 Trinity Lutheran swept No. 15 Kennedy (25-20, 25-17, 25-23) to advance to the 2A tournament at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande.

“Our team didn’t win this game last year,” said junior Natalie Chambers. “We came in knowing 100 percent that we had this but we were going to have to work really hard for it.”

Trinity Lutheran will play in its fourth state tournament in program history and its first since joining the 2A ranks. The Saints will take on No. 7 Portland Christian Friday at 3 p.m.

“Practice makes perfect,” said first-year Trinity Lutheran coach Hannah Edison. “We practice a lot of pressurized situations and the girls have a lot of fight in them. Repeating what happened last year wasn’t an option. They came out fighting and got the job done.”

Sisters, Central Christian are tournament bound

Sisters will make a return trip to the 3A state tournament after a year hiatus after sweeping No. 12 Warrenton in straight sets (25-13, 25-18, 25-20) Saturday morning. The fourth-seeded Outlaws will take on No. 5 Dayton in the quarterfinals at North Bend High School Friday at 11 a.m.

It was a dominant performance Saturday afternoon by No. 3 Central Christian over No. 14 Triangle Lake in the second round of the 1A playoffs Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers swept Triangle Lake, winning each of the three (25-12, 25-8, 25-13) sets by double digits.

Central Christian will take on No. 6 North Lake in the quarterfinals at La Grande High School on Friday at 1 p.m.

Caldera, Madras, Culver have seasons end

There will be no return trip to the 5A tournament for Caldera. The 11th-seeded Wolfpack evened the match after a win in the second set, but could not win any more sets, falling in four sets (25-14, 20-25, 25-15, 25-12) Saturday afternoon at West Albany… Making its first playoff appearance in more than a decade, No. 12 Madras fell in straight sets at No. 5 Philomath (25-19, 25-18, 25-21) Saturday afternoon in the 4A playoffs… In the 2A playoffs, No. 12 Culver took the first set at No. 5 Heppner, but then fell in the next three to finish with a four-set loss (23-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-15) Saturday evening.