Prairie City Panther Amaya Zweygardt (2) attacks the ball in the game against Harper/Huntington, her teammates Jeannie McCarthy (1) and Sarah Ennis standing ready.

JOHN DAY – The Dayville/Monument Tigers faced the Prairie City Panthers to kick off the 1A District Volleyball Tournament last Saturday at Grant Union in John Day.

The Tigers pounced to a 3-1 win in close sets over the Panthers, with scores of 25-20, 22-25, 25-18 and 25-22, then fell to Crane and Jordan Valley.

Prairie City lost the consolation game to Harper/Huntington.

Crane won the tournament’s championship game with Adrian in second and Jordan Valley, third.

Dayville/Monument built an early lead in the first set with Prairie City and held on to outpace the Panthers.

The Panthers trailed by a point or two throughout most of the second set, but tied the score 18-18 and kept ahead for the win.

Tiger Ravyn Walker went down with an injury, but returned for the later two games.

In the third set Prairie City had the upper hand to begin with, but after tying 13-13, Dayville/Monument pulled away with the win. Tiger player Kyla Emerson contributed to the win with a serving run that helped her team make the comeback.

The Tigers kept the momentum going in the fourth and when the Panthers caught up to them, tying the score 18-18, Dayville/Monument’s Kendall Hettinga delivered a couple spikes to regain the lead and eventually win the match.

“The girls had the best day of volleyball that we’ve had all season,” said Tiger head coach Tiffnie Schmadeka. “Against the Panthers, we were able to successfully pass the ball which led to many kills. These sets were very close, so I was proud of my girls to stay focused and to finish them strongly.”

She said the team also served well against Crane and had great digs in the game.

The Tigers fell to Crane with scores of 21-25, 19-25 and 22-25.

“These were also close sets, and I was so proud of our team for playing so strong against them,” she said.

As the day wore on, Schmadeka said the team was somewhat drained against Jordan Valley.

They lost with scores of 20-25, 20-25, 25-18 and 20-25.

“We made some good attacks on the ball and were able to serve tough,” she said. “It was a very tough loss for our girls since it was the last game this season.”

Dayville/Monument players Emma Hettinga and Kendall Hettinga were named to the All-District first team.

Shmadeka said the Tigers progressed throughout the season.

“They worked together our last day to show the type of team they are,” she said. “I’m already looking forward to next season.”

Prairie City head coach Louanne Zweygardt said Dayville/Monument “came out strong and ready to play.”

“They had a lot of hustle and Kendall Hettinga was hitting really well,” she said. “We weren’t able to build up enough momentum to overcome them.”

After losing the first game, and state playoff hopes, Zweygardt said her team had a tough time bringing their energy up against Harper/Huntington.

They lost the game with scores of 19-25, 25-19 and 10-15.

“It wasn’t the finish we were looking for, but we did have a lot of improvement over the season and are looking forward to next year already.”