With visions of another prolific season in their future, the Crater volleyball team wasn’t about to make the same mistake it did a year ago against rival Eagle Point.

After letting the Eagles get traction early and build confidence en route to their first win over the Comets in eight years during the 2023 campaign, Crater used a pivotal service stretch by freshman Tatum Richmond to separate in the first set and then exerted its dominance thereafter to win in straight sets Thursday night, 25-9, 25-14, 25-16.

“I think the girls came in focused and didn’t underestimate Eagle Point, which did us well,” said Comets head coach Tiffany Booth. “They just came in ready to play, honestly, which is great to see because you just never know with those teams. Even though we were the better team, they have a great coach and we know they’re capable of anything, that’s how we lost to them last year when we went to play them at their home.”

The first set lead hovered at 7-5 for Crater in the Midwestern League opener for both teams when Richmond stepped to the service line and paved the way for the Comets to score 10 straight points.

“She moved the ball around, she didn’t serve the same person and it was just one of those things where we just couldn’t get out of it,” said Eagle Point head coach Jacob Schauffler. “We have a young team with not a lot of varsity experience. They’re good, athletic kids but that’s what we’re struggling with right now is just consistency. There’s times when we look pretty good and then there’s times when we look like a bunch of girls who have never played varsity volleyball before.”

The Eagles faithful did its best to try and rattle Richmond, but to no avail. The freshman finished with eight aces and six digs overall to complement Crater’s veteran starters.

“She doesn’t play like a freshman, she’s really proven herself out there,” said Booth. “She’s super competitive and doesn’t let any of the opposing fans get in her head. She does really well under the pressure and has really stepped up to the plate as a freshman to be on the court as much as she has been.”

While Richmond provided a highlight moment, it was the upperclassmen on the roster who made things especially challenging for the Eagles (1-4, 0-1 MWL).

Crater senior middle blocker Lanie Snow came through with eight kills, while senior outside hitter Callie Aplin had nine kills and eight digs and senior middle blocker Alexa Gugliotta finished with seven kills.

“Lanie Snow played incredible,” said Booth. “She was just finding all the holes. Everytime she was set the ball it was a kill, she didn’t have a single error the entire match.”

The Comets (3-2, 1-0) also got four kills apiece from Danica Huntoon and Harper Madson and three more by Delaney Henke.

“They’re so good up front with their attack,” said Schauffler. “Crater hit so many balls that were well-hit balls. Huntoon put a couple of balls back in the back corner, and both of their middles — Snow and Gugliotta — were hitting left and right and Gugliotta was hitting slides very well tonight. They were hitting balls and it was like there wasn’t a lot we could do defensively.”

Schauffler also provided a tip of the cap to Crater junior setter Kendall Stidham, who registered 34 assists.

“Stidham did good job of setting their hitters,” said the EP coach. “I thought she did an excellent job because they all weren’t great passes. I actually thought our girls did a good job of serving tonight for the most part, and we served tough balls and got them off the net and Stidham did a good job of making great sets to put her hitters in situations where they can get kills.”

Eagle Point senior Thianna Deng-Gomez and sophomore Blakely Schauffler each paced their offense with four kills, while Evy Leonardo provided seven assists and Emary Haning had four assists as part of EP’s 6-2 system.

“We just had a hard time getting Thianna good sets,” said coach Schauffler of the senior middle, “but, to her credit, she found a way to find some holes still.”

Karris Johnson came up with eight digs, while Madisyn Dean and Haning added three apiece for the Eagles.

“Our kids had great attitudes tonight,” added coach Schauffler. “We’re going to keep working and they’ll get better as the season goes on.”

The same could be said for Crater, which placed fifth in the Class 5A state tournament last year following a semifinal loss to Bend and a heartbreaking five-set setback against MWL champion Thurston.

“We have a really great group,” said Booth. “I think they definitely have the potential to go all the way. I could see us going to state and taking first or second, but they’ve got to dig deep and believe in themselves and they’ve got to work for it.”

“They know everything that they have to do,” she added, “it’s just showing up and doing it, that’s the hardest part.”

SOUTH MEDFORD 3, WILLAMETTE 0: South Medford breezed to its first Southwest Conference win behind 14 kills from Mayen Akpan and 14 assists by Julia Slaughter in a 25-8, 25-7, 25-12 showing in the Panther gym.

Slaughter added five kills and joined Akpan in posting two aces for the Panthers (4-2, 1-0 SWC), while Daija Malcolm posted three kills and Hadassah Pannell provided two kills and three aces.

NORTH MEDFORD 3, ROSEBURG 1: At Roseburg, North Medford scored its fourth straight victory as junior Kristina Atonio accounted for 11 kills, nine assists and two aces in a 25-15, 25-23, 16-25, 25-14 road triumph.

Sophia McQuary notched seven kills, 15 assists and three aces to pace the Black Tornado (6-2, 2-0 SWC).

ASHLAND 3, THURSTON 1: At Springfield, Ashland came up big against last year’s Midwestern League winners to secure a 25-17, 25-19, 22-25, 25-16 victory on the road.

After being swept in straight sets in last year’s meetings, the Grizzlies (2-2, 1-0 MWL) came out with a definite fire behind the play of Stella Thompson (11 kills, four blocks) and Gita Lustman (seven kills, seven digs, five aces).

Aliyah Sullivan came up with 11 digs and three aces, while Kiera Kubiak had 25 assists and Irene Vaz, an exchange student from Spain, chipped in with five aces on 19-for-19 serving.

MAZAMA 3, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 2: Cascade Christian saw a 2-0 lead wiped away by a comeback effort as visiting Mazama stormed back to a five-set triumph, 20-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-6.

Grace McCauley came through with a whopping 38 digs and Poppy Freeman had 18 kills, 20 digs, four aces and two blocks for the Challengers (2-3).

Julia Brehm added 11 kills, five blocks, three digs and two aces, while Reece Anderson collected 10 assists, two aces and five digs and Rylan Hunter provided 17 assists, five digs and two blocks against the 4A Vikings (4-1).

HENLEY 3, ST. MARY’S 1: At Klamath Falls, St. Mary’s received 18 kills, 10 digs and four aces from Ada Bernard but was unable to slow 4A Henley in a 25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 26-24 setback.

Sydney Holdermann contributed 13 digs and six kills and was 24-for-24 from the service line for the Crusaders (1-4), while Lexi Smith added 10 digs and Ella Yeamans had 24 assists.

Boys Soccer

ST. MARY’S 6, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 0: St. Mary’s sophomore striker Angelo Sanchez recorded a hat trick to help the Crusaders to a strong showing in a nonconference match with District 5 rival Cascade Christian at Lithia & Driveway Fields.

Magni Glaser, Colin Dennett and Rocco Primerano also scored for St. Mary’s (1-1-1).

Cascade Christian, which didn’t field a team in 2021 and 2022 after winning the league title a season prior, returned to play last season. The Challengers, who have yet to score thus far, dropped to 0-3 with Thursday’s loss.

Girls Soccer

ST. MARY’S 8, ILLINOIS VALLEY 0: St. Mary’s scored another runaway victory, using four goals from Ainsley Javarone to help set the tone for a District 4 opener that ended seven minutes into the second half by mercy rule at L&D Fields.

Cora Campanella and Ketsia Carvalhaes each collected two goals for the Crusaders (3-0, 1-0 Dist. 4), who have outscored their opponents 21-0 to start the season.