Prairie City Panther Hailee Wall (5) spikes the ball to Grant Union in the Sept. 17 match.

The Grant Union Prospector volleyball team was victorious in its first league game of the season, beating Heppner 3-2 at the Mustangs’ home court.

Grant Union won with scores of 21-25, 25-13, 13-25, 25-14 and 15-6.

“The match is pretty reflective through the scores,” said Grant Union head coach Ali Abrego. “The first game was much closer than any of the rest, but Heppner is a hard gym to play in. The girls really just fought hard to win this weekend which was awesome to see.”

Standouts in the match were Grace Taylor, Taylor Allen and Paige Gerry, Abrego said.

“Overall, going into the match, we talked a lot about how that particular game would set the tone for the season as far as momentum — wins vs. losses — that type of thing, and we really laid out some positive momentum and mindset going into that,” she said. “The girls really worked hard, and I’m proud of how they are growing together.”

After losing a 3-1 match to Grant Union at the Prairie City court on Sept. 17, the Prairie City Panthers went on to sweep three teams on the road, including Harper in the Panthers’ first league game of the season.

Prairie City defeated Harper 25-4, 25-11 and 25-15. They also beat Sherman 25-17, 25-18 and 25-21 and Trinity Lutheran 25-10, 25-19, 23-25 and 25-18, both games played at Trinity Lutheran in Bend.

“The matches in Bend were more challenging, but the team did well and came out on top,” said Panther assistant coach Louanne Zweygardt. “We had 95% serving as a team against Sherman with Rilee Emmel, Hailee Wall, Emily Ennis and Samie Workman all serving 100%.”

Katie Hire had three aces and only one error on 17 serves. Emmel had six kills, and Ennis had five.

“Shaine Madden continues to dominate our back row, which is allowing our setters to get the ball to our hitters,” Zweygardt said. “The girls got a little tired in the second match, particularly since Trinity Lutheran did a good job of keeping the ball in play. We still had strong serving.”

Emmel had six aces and only one error on 22 serves. Laken McKay had five aces and one error on 23 serves. and Hailee Wall had five aces and two errors on 18 serves. Hire and Emmel each had 10 kills.

“We were able to get playing time for everyone, which makes a difference for developing players,” Zweygardt said.

The 1A Panthers hosted the neighboring 2A Prospectors Sept. 17 with the Prospectors winning 3-1.

Grant Union won the first two sets 25-18 and 25-16. Then Prairie City took a stand, taking the third set 25-21.

Grant Union went on an 11-0 run in the fourth to overtake Prairie City 25-9 in the final set for the victory.

“The last game showed how we should be playing all season,” Abrego said.

She was happy with good serving runs from sophomores Taylor and Gerry, and said seniors Allen and Kaytlyn Wells both hit well.

“It’s a good win for us going into the weekend,” Abrego said. “It’s always good to have a positive swing going into the start of league.”

She said they’d need to focus on being disciplined and controlling the momentum of the game.

“We struggled in the beginning, but we came back, hitting well,” she said, adding they also played good defense.

Prairie City coach Jordan Bass said her team has the skills to win.

“We’re still working on start to finish and keeping that energy and drive to win the whole game, not just a set,” she said.

“If they want it, they’ve got to play like they want it,” she added.

Emmel said they didn’t play to the full potential against Grant Union they’ve shown previously.

“We need to stop being so timid and be aggressive to everything and learn how to battle, be strong and maintain throughout,” Emmel said. “We’d rather compete against these teams, because that’s the level that we’re at.”

Allen, the Prospector senior, said their defense and hitting was strong and she is looking forward to league play.

The Prospectors continue with league competition this week, facing Stanfield at noon and Weston-McEwen at 2 p.m. Saturday at Stanfield, then Union at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, on the road.

“We are looking forward to meeting them, and putting our discipline to the test,” Abrego said. “Union has a tough environment to play in as well, and I think they will provide our girls with an opportunity to prove what we want.”