Burns beats Prospector volleyball at home
Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, October 14, 2008
- Grant Union's Katelyn Page attempts to put the ball past two Burns defenders during the Oct. 9 game.<br><I>The?Eagle/David Heldreth
JOHN DAY – The Grant Union volleyball team is still struggling with Burns.
The Prospectors fell 3-0 to the Hilanders Oct. 9 in a match that was dominated by Burns. Grant Union lost 25-8, 25-13 and 25-21 in the match. Grant Union is now 18-11 overall and 2-4 in the Eastern Oregon League this season.
Burns coach Paula Toney said although her team played well, she saw some problems.
“Overall it was a good day,” Toney said. “We played strong on offense, but our defense was a little off. We’ve been playing at least three times a week, but we’ve been off a week since our last game. I think that had something to do with it.”
Grant Union wasn’t able to put much together early in the match and Burns took advantage. The Hilanders went on a 17-3 run in the first game for an early win.
“We had a slow first game,” Grant Union coach Karen Broemeling said.
The Pros began to wake up as the match continued and they closed the gap each game. Grant Union was within four through the second game, but once again gave up a run. The Pros were outscored 15-4 at the end of the game.
Grant Union was close at the start of the third game and kept the pressure on. They forced Burns to play a strong game, but were unable to hold back the Hilander attack.
LaShawnda Gill led the team with five kills. Katelyn Page had two kills of her own. Jacee Retherford, Ashley Slinkard, and Taylor Croghan had one each. The team only had 10 total kills. Gill led in defensive digs, followed by Retherford.
“Burns offensive was very effective and we didn’t execute as well as we can,” Broemeling said. “We will be working on defense this week and transition offense.”
Grant Union has been swept by Burns in each of the teams’ meetings in the last four years. However, the Hilanders have dominated the EOL since its creation in 2006. They have gone perfect, 10-0, in league each season. The Hilanders have a 133-6 overall record in the last three years. Burns is 38-2 so far this season and 6-0 in the EOL.
The Pro players were frustrated with the game, and senior Gill said Burns has been a roadblock for the team.
“I don’t know why we can’t seem to beat Burns,” Gill said. “I think we played pretty well against them last time. We played a lot better last time.”
Grant Union will travel to play Nyssa at 5 p.m. MST Oct. 16 and then play their final home matches of the regular season against Umatilla and Riverside Oct. 18. The Pros face Umatilla at 12 p.m. and Riverside at 6 p.m. The team will celebrate senior recognition night during the Riverside game.