more photosMountain View's Bethany Durre makes a dig on a kill attempt from Crescent Valley Wednesday night at Mountain View High School during the Cougars' win in the first round of Class 5A state playoffs.
Rob Kerr / The Bulletin
Cougs win in four games, advance in state playoffs
By Beau Eastes / The Bulletin
Published: November 05. 2009 4:00AM PSTMountain View did not win the first game of its first-round playoff match against Crescent Valley on Wednesday, it only felt like it.
Rallying back from a 27-25 defeat in game one — the Cougars trailed 18-8 at Mountain View High School before pushing the opening game into extra points — Mountain View won its next three games against Crescent Valley 25-11, 25-21, 25-23 to advance to the second round of the Class 5A state volleyball playoffs. The Cougars, who entered the postseason as the Intermountain Conference's No. 3 seed, play at Southern Sky Conference champion Ashland on Saturday for a spot in the 5A state tournament.
“(The rally) in the first game was so important,” said Mountain View middle Sarah Roshak. “We carried that momentum into the second game.”
Roshak owned the net, ending the match with a school-record 16 blocks.
“She makes my job and the rest of the defense's job so much easier,” Cougar libero Bethany Durre said about Roshak. “She played great for us.”
Roshak also paced Mountain View's offense, leading the Cougars with 11 kills. Ashley Hagner added eight kills in the win for Mountain View.
While Roshak set the defensive tone at the net for the Cougars, Durre made spectacular play after spectacular play from her libero position in the back row. An all-state tournament team selection a year ago, Durre recorded a team-high 21 digs on Wednesday. Maddy Seevers also contributed seven blocks in the win.
“She's without a doubt the greatest leader I've ever encountered in volleyball,” Mountain View coach Mallory Larranaga said about her senior co-captain, Durre. “She means everything to this team.”
Despite the first-game loss, the Cougars kept their composure and got off a 4-0 lead in game two before the Raiders, the Mid-Willamette Conference's fourth seed, scored their first point. Crescent Valley rallied to tie the game 8-8, but Mountain View went on an 8-0 run before taking the second game, 25-11.
Games three and four were closer, but the Cougars came up with the decisive plays when needed. Leading 22-21 in game three, Roshak blasted a ball that technically was not a kill, but led to a point and got the serve back for Mountain View. The Cougars ended the game two points later on a Shelby Broberg kill to take a two-games-to-one advantage.
“We really took the momentum (after the close game-one defeat) into not just the second game, but the third and fourth, too,” Larranaga said. “These girls decided to win.”
Mountain View almost blew a 17-10 lead in game four when Crescent Valley went on a late run, outscoring the Cougars 13-7 during one stretch to make the score 24-23 Mountain View. The Cougars again came up with a game-changing play when Roshak and Karlee Markham combined on a block that ended the game and the match.
“We're just having so much fun out there,” Roshak said.
Beau Eastes can be reached at 541-383-0305 or at beastes@bendbulletin.com.
ARTICLE ACCESS: This article is among those available to all readers. Many more articles are available only to E-Edition members. Sign up today!
