St. Mary’s tips North Medford in 5-set battle to wrap regular season

Published 8:58 am Friday, May 16, 2025

By KRIS HENRY / Rogue Valley Times

Crusaders, Black Tornado, Ashland share Southern Region boys volleyball title after three-way tie

Minus some key ingredients on each side, the boys volleyball teams from North Medford and St. Mary’s still cooked up quite a battle Thursday night in a bid for the Southern Region title.

Both teams adjusted well and plowed ahead to create a five-set thriller that was ultimately won by the host Crusaders, 25-23, 15-25, 25-16, 18-25, 15-9.

“It was a really good battle against two top teams in the state,” said St. Mary’s head coach Katie Miller, who has been instrumental in developing boys volleyball players throughout the Rogue Valley the past few years. “They all had their moments — and some brain farts in that, too, which is understandable — but they showed up to play and they played hard. I’m proud of both sides.”

With the outcome, plus Ashland’s straight-sets victory over Grants Pass, three programs — North Medford, Ashland and St. Mary’s — finished in a first-place tie to share the championship with identical 8-2 records in Southern Region play.

North Medford senior Calvin McGary rips a crosscourt kill against St. Mary’s during Thursday’s match in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

“Isn’t that crazy, though, that the top three were all different classifications, and yet we’re all pretty darn similar in skill?’” said North Medford head coach Angie Miller. “That says something, too, that athletes are everywhere, we’ve just got to get them to come out.”

Last year, boys volleyball underwent its inaugural season with “emerging sport” status through the Oregon School Activities Association. St. Mary’s placed first in the Class 3A/2A/1A state championship bracket that season, with Ashland finishing third in the 5A/4A state tournament.

Class 6A North Medford (9-3) hopes to make its mark this time around, and was nearly able to pull off the district title for its own before St. Mary’s (12-4) used a late-match surge with five of the final six points earned to win the fifth set and force a three-way tie.

“It definitely was an intense game, I wasn’t expecting it to go back and forth like that,” said North Medford senior Calvin McGary, who moved from his usual spot at setter to outside hitter for the first time as a Tornado due to lineup need. “We were missing a lot of players today, but I think overall we did really good.”

Given the close, competitive nature of the match, McGary didn’t blink twice about the idea of missing out on a sole championship. North Medford entered the match having lost only five sets all season — three of those coming in a five-set loss to Ashland (11-3) on Monday that halted a dominant nine-match winning streak.

“I don’t think it takes anything away from our experience,” said McGary. “It might be a title, but as long as we have fun, it doesn’t matter.”

Fun was definitely high up on the menu Thursday night in the St. Mary’s gym, with players laughing off miscues, taking ownership of any error and supporting their teammates with energetic praise as the leads teetered back and forth with each set.

North Medford senior David Jormelu celebrates after a score against St. Mary’s during Thursday’s regular-season finale in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

It was a refreshing look at high school competition, where overly serious play and a touch too much bravado often can come into play for the regularly sanctioned OSAA sports. After this second season as an emerging sport, the OSAA will vote in October on whether to fully sanction boys volleyball or maintain its position as an emerging sport and table any upgrades to the current status.

“It is a unique sport in so many ways,” said Angie Miller. “It’s just fun seeing their joy and their happiness. Even after a tight loss tonight, they’re still cheering each other on and giving each other credit for all the good stuff. It’s come a long ways in two years.”

With senior-dominated lineups, North Medford and St. Mary’s were able to put forth a good level of play Thursday night.

The Crusaders may have paved the way for victory in the first set, where they shook off a late challenge by the Black Tornado and used a kill from Cole Mayfield and a strong serve from fellow senior Kent David that was not returned over the net to break a 23-all deadlock.

After that, it was pretty clear in the ensuing sets who had the advantage, as North controlled set Nos. 2 and 4 and St. Mary’s split the difference with a dominant outing of its own in the third set.

The hot potato battle for an advantage fittingly went to a fifth set, where the teams played evenly to a 6-all score.

After that, three unforced errors by the Tornado and a booming kill by David gave St. Mary’s a 10-6 edge before McGary was able to deftly get a crosscourt winner that skimmed over the net to break the trend.

The Crusaders’ lead was trimmed to 10-8 before they mounted a closing run, with kills by Mayfield, Reid Ravassipour and a service ace by David allowing St. Mary’s to pull away for a 15-9 edge in the final set.

David finished with 23 kills, eight digs and three aces, while Mayfield had nine kills, 13 digs and was 14-for-14 serving with two aces. Setter C.J. Seggelink doled out 31 assists to go with nine digs, while fellow senior Nolan Hensman had 10 digs and two aces and freshman Mason James stepped in to supply six digs and a 9-for-9 effort from the service line.

St. Mary’s senior Cole Mayfield rises for a hit over North Medford’s Rilan Larson during Thursday’s match in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

“We couldn’t do without C.J., he really hustles his butt off, especially when I don’t give him good passes,” said David of his team’s winning effort. “And Cole was really putting it down and playing super well tonight. He was hustling and was a great teammate and supportive, it was just a big team win tonight.”

Knowing that they were playing for the rights to share a conference title, and seeing North Medford countering with every jab thrown, allowed Thursday’s effort to feel a little extra special for St. Mary’s.

“I think it’s the most fun when they’re giving you a challenge and you can bring your ‘A’ game and succeed at the highest level,” said David. “I think that shows something about every single person on the team.”

The same could be said for North Medford, which adjusted nicely to a shoulder injury for McGary by moving him out of the setter position and sliding in seniors David Jormelu and Aiden Addington into that role. It was an entirely new look for the Tornado — leading to more fun moments than consternation for a crew that realized they were all kind of learning on the fly.

McGary finished with 18 kills, seven digs and two aces, Noah Harrington added nine kills and 13 digs, and Malachi Munoz came up with 10 digs, five kills and two blocks. Jormelu had 24 assists and seven digs before needing to exit prior to the fifth set, while Addington supplied 14 assists and while Kolton Preston had six kills.

“These guys got told to do things they haven’t done all season, and they totally rose to the occasion,” said Angie Miller. “It was very cool to see that they had that in them.”

McGary agreed with that sentiment.

“This game was definitely one of our more relaxed games,” said McGary, who has been playing boys volleyball for 4 ½ years. “Usually it’s really strict and everybody’s playing their position, but this one was a lot of fun playing different positions.”

“Everybody was phenomenal today, it was definitely one of our better games,” he added.

St. Mary’s senior C.J. Seggelink connects for a kill against North Medford Thursday in the regular-season finale. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

St. Mary’s underwent its own adjustments with senior middle Connor Gibbs and senior right side hitter Alex Xu unavailable for the regular-season finale.

The Crusaders’ ability to come together as the season has worn on definitely played a role in Thursday’s outcome, according to David.

“It was in part due to our teamwork,” he said of navigating the trials and tribulations of a five-setter. “I think we’ve improved that throughout the whole season, and that’s been a big thing. We started the season playing really individually — we wanted to come out and show everyone that we could play by ourselves — but I think as we grew as players and as teammates, we realized the only way to win in this sport is to play as a team.”

“In the sets we lost, we were playing individually,” he added, “and in the sets we won, we played as a team, and I think that’s where the win came from tonight.”

With conference play complete, North Medford, Ashland and St. Mary’s will each turn to their respective classifications next week for the state playoffs and ensuing state tournament at the Olympus Sports Center in Hillsboro.

Reach sports editor Kris Henry at kris.henry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035

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