3A Title is going to be a battle....Again!

3A kicks off the action-packed 2 day event with 8:00 am and 10:00am matches showcasing all 8 Finalists. 6 of those 8 are becoming annual fixtures at this tournament with the other 2 being true greenhorns, welcome Portland Adventist Cougars, making school history with their first ever State Volleyball appearance and the Riverside Pirates who have not made a State tournament showing since 1987. The yearly muscle teams are back to include #1 ranked Santiam Christian, 2nd ranked Sheridan, 3rd ranked Valley Catholic, 4th ranked Burns, 5th ranked Creswell and 6th ranked Cascade Christian. With teams coming from all 4 corners of the State, it's Burns and Riverside winning the distance award, both hailing from sparsely populated, vast areas of sagebrush and junipers. Sheridan is tucked away in the foothills between the coast range and Portland, Santiam Christian is located near Adair Village just 10 miles east of Corvallis. Portland Adventist and Valley Catholic hail from the greater Portland area while Cascade Christian comes from the southern part of the State, Medford. All 8 teams have arrived and promise to give the fans and spectators their monies worth for the next 2 days.

Winners of the the 4 matches wil advance to the right-side of the bracket and play again at 1:00pm. The 4 teams who lose their first match will go to the Consolation side of the bracket and play their 2nd matches on Saturday at 8:00am.

3A Quarterfinals - Friday, November 13, 2009

Riverside (EOL #3) vs. Cascade Christian (Sunset #1) - 8:00am Court 1

Riverside comes from one of the toughest conferences in the State, fiinishing 3rd in the Eastern Oregon League, they traveled to Catlin Gable last Saturday where they overcame their competition and won in 3. Coached by Kelly Doherty, in her 23rd year as head coach for the Pirates, to say this team is excited about being here would be an understatement. Riverside will be led by senior OH, Kayla Nelson and junior OH, Whitley Reece. Coach Doherty says her team is certainly lacking in height but makes up for it with desire and tenacity. Watch for Riverside's defensive specialists throughout the tournament, from what I hear, they're all over the place and scrappy as can be. Must be that crazy mad spandex!

Cascade Christian makes their 3rd straight appearance since making the leap from 2A to 3A classification in 2007. Coming off a 3rd Place Trophy from last years tournament, CC is more experienced, battle tested and ready to show the rest of us, what their opponents had to put up with all season. Having played and conquered many 4, 5 and 6A teams this season, Coach Sabrina Schubert and crew have been ranked 4th-6th all season long, fiinishing with a 14-0 conference record, 23-6-3 Overall with 2 of those losses at the hands of tournament rivals, Sheridan and Santiam Christian . With 6'0, Senior OH, Becca Sellers making her 4th straight State tournament appearance as well as her teammate, Senior setter, Breanna Holtz, watch for the Cacade Christian Challengers to put on a great show.

Creswell Bulldogs (PWC #2) vs. Valley Catholic Valiants (WVL #1) - 8:00 Court 2

Creswell, another returnee to this tournament. They faced Valley Catholic at the Santiam Christian tournament earlier this season, the teams split games in pool play but never faced each other again, until now. Creswell has played in this finale 7 of the past 11 years. Fiinishing 5th and 6th in the past 2 years. Coach Anna Baltrusch is in her 14 season with the Bulldogs, she's built a strong program at Creswell and has developed some great players to watch in this tournament, enter Chandler Gabrio, an athletic, 6'2 Middle and 5'10 senior MB, Chelsie Joyce  both should cause opponents fits with their blocking and dominant net play. One of the tallest teams in the tournament.

Valley Catholic, what would a tournament be without Valley Catholic's name in the program? Having followed 3A Volleyball and Basketball for years now, I can't remember the last time they weren't in a tournament. Finishing as the #1 team from the talent-heavy West Valley League and returning to this event after losing an amazingly, hard-fought Championship match to Sheridan last year, VC is on a mission for their 1st ever, State Championship Trophy. I believe they have every other finish in their trophy case. A perennial 3A powerhouse, VC has a hoard of talented players Sister's Sam (jr) and Tori (soph) Kemper can flat out smash the ball, Tori received QWest Player of the Game in last years championship match plus named unanimously to the 1st Team All Tournament team, not too shabby for a freshman, Sister Sam was also named to the 1st team. Add senior, veteran setter, Katie McAuliffe who has been VC's setter for 3 seaons and so effortlessly places the ball into the hitters hands each time, plus toss in senior MB, Michaela Hanson to the mix and the crowds guaranteed to see another fantastic Valley Catholic team. 1st Year head Coach Justin Denham coached his team to a 13-1 league record. Could we possibly see a repeat Championship of last year? Should VC win the upper bracket and Sherdian win the lower bracket................time will tell.

Santiam Christian (PacWest #1) vs. Sheridan (WVL#2) - 10:00am Court 1

Santiam Christian makes their 9th straight appearance here with the same coach, Kim McClain. A top-notch program in the State, SC finishes their season with an impressive 26-2 record, SC won the Dalles Invitational, Santiam Christian Tournament and placed 2nd in the popular 5A & 6A West Linn Invitational, quite an impressive finish for the sole 3A team in the tournament. Led by 4 year veteran and Pac West Player of the Year, Tayla Woods, who has committed to play volleyball for Oregon State, plus junior libero, Whitney Hightower, 6'2 MH, Anna Wruck, 6'1 sophomore, Sara Almen and an arsenal of hitters and defensive specialists, Santiam Christian is here to prove why they maintained their #1 ranking all season. Is considered the favorite of the tournament and certainly brings in the most height.

Sheridan, the 2008 State Champions make their 4th straight appearance with 9th year coach, Matt Leichty. Finishing 2nd in the conference Sheridan hosted Bandon last Saturday in the first round. Sheridan prevailed in 4. Having kept their #2 ranking all season, pitting these 2 teams against one another in the quarter-finals could very well be as exciting as the championship match on Saturday. Sheridan returns All-State player and this years, West Valley League Player of the Year, Amber Moser who looks to dominate at the net with her 6'0 frame....add 2nd Team 2008 All State OH, Kayleigh Whelchel to the mix and Sheridan is again, a respected and feared opponent in this years tournament.

Portland Adventist (L&C#1) vs. Burns (EOL#1) - 10:00am Court 2

PAA Cougars play in their first ever State Tournament. They've improved leaps and bounds over last years team with a 2-9 league record. First year Coach Joe Kim credits their success to his hard-working, knowledgeable assistant coaches and former PAA players, Sharika Kim and Sara Westermeyer. With just 2 seniors on this years team, I think it's fair to say we'll see more of PAA in future State Tournaments. This years team is once agaiin led by senior MB and Lewis & Clark League Most Valuable Player, Jami Olerich. Jami led the team in kills, digs and blocks. 1st Team All League, junior libero, Heather Schosnig, 2nd Team All League Setter, Andee Nichols (soph) and OH, Haley Stinson, (soph) combine to produce a top-tier team in this years contest. PAA won the Walla Walla Classic this season, dominating the tournament without a siingle loss. PAA receives the Cinderella team of the tournament.

Burns Hilanders, an icon at this tournament. Burns has played in 18 of the last 19 State Tournaments. And, have won the State Championship 3 out of the last 5 years. Burns lost to Sheridan and Valley Catholic earlier this season in the Santiam Christian Tournament. Their ranking of 4th & 5th all season reflects those losses plus having lost last years 3A State Player of the Year in Courtney Toney and 1st Team All State Mattea Zabala. Some folks thought perhaps other teams in the EOL might stand a chance to be crowned league champs, but that wasn't an option coach Paula Toney gave her team. Sophomore OH, Abbey Fenton has led in the kill category for Burns followed closely by sophomore Setter/OH, Maddye Dinsmore. 2nd year starter at the Setting position is Kaci Nonnenmacher who puts the ball in the hitters hands flawlessly time and time again, usually from well placed passes from her backrow crew of Higle  and McConnell. Senior 6'0  Middle, Samantha Hooker  and junior Chelsea Siegner are additional guns for Burns.  As I type the name Higle, I have to ask myself, how many consecutive years has Burns had a "Higle" on the roster, my calculations say 7 or 8,  Burns has height, speed and youth, not a good combination for future opponents but a great combination for the future of Burns volleyball. Burns enters the tournament for the 6th consecutive year with a 10-0 League record. I'm looking forward to seeing the huge crowd of fans this small town brings, all clad in beautiful Purple and Gold.