JOHN DAY – The Grant Union volleyball team closed September as strong as they started the month.

The Pros kicked off the season with an 8-1 record in the first week of September. Their only loss came to Dufur during the Heppner Tournament Sept. 6. Grant Union avenged that loss hours later to take the top honors at the tournament.

The Pros went 6-2 during the last week of the month.

Grant Union started the strong week with a 3-0 win against Nyssa to take their Eastern Oregon League record to 2-2. The Pros won 25-14, 25-16 and 25-15 in that game.

Jacee Retherford led the team with eight kills and also had eight set assists. Shannon Croghan had the most set assists with 11. Kiaya Wilson spent some time as setter as Retherford continued to recover from an ankle sprain.

“Kiaya Wilson came in and filled Jacee’s spot for the first game and did an outstanding job setting,” Grant Union coach Karen Broemeling said.

The Pros finished the day with 32 kills and 15 aces as a team.

Grant Union continued the week at the East Linn Tournament Saturday, Sept. 27. The Pros won their three pool-play matches. They beat Scio 25-18, 25-21; Perrydale 25-21, 25-10 and North Clackamas Christian 25-20, 25-17. The Pros had a rematch against Scio in the semifinals, but won 25-12 and 25-23. However, they fell to St. Paul 21-25, 25-17 and 11-15.

Kate Page led the team in the tournament with 21 kills. LaShawnda Gill had 15 kills, Ashley Slinkard, 14; Retherford, nine; Aspen Riggs, nine; Karina Hoffman, six; Taylor Croghan, five, and Shannon Croghan, one.

Shannon Croghan led in serving aces with seven. Megan Nash had six aces. Page had three and Taylor Croghan earned two. Bre Wilson and Gill had one a piece.

Page led defensively with nine blocks, followed by Slinkard and Retherford with four each. Gill led with 38 defensive digs, followed by Taylor Croghan with 23.

“Grant Union played well throughout the day but came up short against St. Paul,” Broemeling said. “During the day offensively our team looked strong with 110 team kills. Defensively Gill, Croghan, Nash and Wilson led in digs. Retherford and Shannon Croghan are running our offense smoothly with good choices in mixing up the plays. Ashley Slinkard continues to make good choices with her hitting while Kate Page’s blocking is stronger each game along with Jacee Retherford’s.

“We continue to grow as a team, with each player contributing their talents and their strength to the benefit of our team.”