Volleyball

It may have been a long time coming for the Phoenix volleyball program but enjoying a match victory wasn’t much of a wait at all for first-year head coach Ashley McGuire.

In only the second match of the season under McGuire, Phoenix was able to halt a 23-match losing streak with a four-set triumph over North Valley in the Pirates’ home gymnasium Thursday night.

“We have quite a few returners from last year and, honestly, it was so emotional,” said McGuire, who is a former player and coach at Phoenix High. “The girls were all in tears and even some of the parents, they were just so overwhelmed. The entire student section stormed the court, it was the cutest thing, to be honest.”

“They deserved it and they really needed it just to build their confidence back,” she added. “You don’t stay out for volleyball after you lose that many games unless you really love the sport so I’m just really proud of them.”

Senior outside hitter Ariah Potts registered nine kills and 19 digs, while senior libero Carsynne Lee came up with 28 digs and two aces and promising freshman outside hitter Zepherya Noxon collected eight kills.

The Pirates (1-1), who last won during a 3-0 showing at the Yreka Miner Bash to start the 2023 season, also got a boost from sophomore setter Lily Quintero, who had 12 digs and two aces.

The opening set was a little bit of a nail-biter before Phoenix was able to put it away despite 13 errors leading to more than half of the points by North Valley (1-2). The Knights, however, stormed back to create some drama in the outcome.

“We kind of revert back to those old habits of being afraid to win, almost, because they just haven’t done it,” said Crenshaw, who graduated from Phoenix in 2005. “So to have them push on that third set and really get a definitive win, it gave them that confidence boost going into the fourth to be like, no, we’ve got this and this is our game. It was just really encouraging to see that confidence getting built back in them.”

It was that confidence that McGuire learned during her own playing days under Tom Murphy and Steve Goodkin that led her back to coaching at Phoenix.

With a middle school daughter on the way for the program, McGuire watched the Pirates play a year ago and wondered why they weren’t more successful and, when the coaching position opened up, didn’t hesitate to put her hat in the ring in an effort to try and restore the culture of Phoenix athletics she remembers so fondly.

“I loved volleyball and I had such a cool experience at Phoenix,” she said. “I still hangout with my coaches and they mentor me so just seeing that the girls were missing that and that Phoenix was kind of falling off the map, it was kind of that extra oomph of like, I want my daughter to play in a program that’s run well and that people are excited to be a part of and that these girls can improve as volleyball players and young women in general.”

“It’s been really fun to be back and be a part of it,” added McGuire, formerly Crenshaw. “Our athletics used to be so important. Our girls programs are just not what they used to be and we need to bring that back.”

GRANTS PASS 3, ASHLAND 0: At Ashland, junior libero Savannah Elster had a career-high 40 digs and helped start a third-set rally that ultimately was cut off by Grants Pass in a nonconference sweep, 29-27, 25-21, 32-30.

Elster served nine straight points with two aces to bring the third set to even and was 17-for-17 in serving overall for the Grizzlies (1-2).

Senior outside hitter Gita Lustman had 20 digs, three kills and was 15-for-15 from the service line, while junior Kiera Kubiak had 15 digs and 10 assists for Ashland. Ayla Allen had four kills and five blocks and fellow senior Mila Nikolik posted seven kills.

MAZAMA 3, EAGLE POINT 0: At Klamath Falls, Karris Johnson had four kills and five digs but Eagle Point was unable to slow Mazama, falling in straight sets 25-17, 25-19, 25-11.

Evy Leonardo doled out nine assists and Emary Haning had four assists for the Eagles (0-2), while Kady Ledbetter and Thianna Deng-Gomez each had three kills. Eagle Point also got six digs from Madisyn Dean and seven digs from Blakely Schauffler.

ST. MARY’S 3, GLIDE 0: St. Mary’s had only one service error for the match (72-for-73) with 10 aces to sweep Glide, 25-11, 25-9, 25-14, in the Crusaders’ gym.

Ada Bernard led the charge for St. Mary’s with 18 kills and eight digs, while Sydney Holdermann had six kills and 13 digs and Ella Yeamans dished out 24 assists.

Lexi Mills was 20-for-20 at the service line with four aces to go with eight digs, while Lexi Smith came up with 18 digs for St. Mary’s (1-2).