The Blue Devils of Corvallis may have a new leader at the helm but the results are more of the same, soundly beating every opponent they come up against. Their only loss has come at the hands of Class B Florence.
New coach Laurie Jones is very familiar with the Blue Devils, she is a graduate of Corvallis and has been in the number two chair for the last seven or eight years. She said they are focusing on running some new defenses and offenses as well as speeding their game up.
“We want to be quicker and stronger,” she said. “We work on each individual, for their performance to get better each game.”
At 6’4”, senior Isabel Evans is tough to miss as she looms at the net. Add to it her enthusiasm and she becomes downright daunting. She is the cheerleader of the team and is always cheering all of the Blue Devils on and celebrating with each and every ace and kill.
“She wasn’t feeling her best today,” said Jones. “And she still was the leader out there.”
Evans said she just wants to make it fun for everyone and help everyone to do their best. Although she is normally the middle blocker, she does with it up and lay down a kill from side to side occasionally. The rest of the team feeds off of her and keeps things moving too. Madeline Gilder, a sophomore, is strong in the back row but can move up for the kill when needed.
“Teams have to keep an eye on her,” said Jones.
The Blue Devils made quick work of the Dillon Beavs on Saturday. They defeated Dillon in three games, 25-15, 25-11, 25-18. Gilder had 14 of the team’s 44 kills. Hanna Hutchison and Evan each had a block. Casey Fison had 20 digs. Martin had 30 of 34 assists; and Hutchison, Martin and Gilder each had two aces.
Hamilton def. Frenchtown, 25-19, 23-25, 25-15, 25-20
Hamilton: Kills: 22 (Emma Ellis 8). Assists: 19 (Taryn Searle 11). Aces: 23 (Katelyn Dickemore 9). Digs: 64 (Ellis 20). Blocks: 2 (Camas Cratty 2).
Frenchtown: Kills: 27 (Addy Tode 8). Assists: 22 (Maddy Eggars 11). Aces: 12 (Cassidy Bagnell 5). Digs: 36 (Bagnell 15). Blocks: 2 (Emily Rehbein 1).
Stevensville def. Hamilton, 3-2
Stevensville def. Hamilton, 22-25, 26-24, 25-21, 16-25, 15-10
Stevensville: Kills 37 (Aliyah Anderson 11). Assists: 33 (Maddie Weber 31). Blocks: 4 (Rachel Carter 2). Digs: 55 (Cassi Kopsa 17). Aces: 14 (Anderson 4).
Hamilton: Kills 39 (Emma Ellis 13). Assists: 35 (Katelyn Dickemore 16, Taryn Searle 15). Blocks: N/A. Digs: 86 (Taryn Searle 22, Dickemore 18). Aces: 13 (Layne Kearns 3, Ellis 3, Dickemore 3).
Florence def. Anaconda 25-16, 25-13, 25-14
Florence – Kills 30 (Sarah Hopcroft 10), Blocks 6 (Emma Stensrud 5), Digs 25 (Kolbi Wood 10), Assists 24 (Hallie Christopherson 16), Aces 8, (Hopcroft 3).
Lincoln def Victor 25-10, 25-11, 18-25, 25-17
Lincoln -Kills 26 (Cannon 11), Blocks 8 (LaManna 5), Digs 10 (Kamps 4), Assists 23 (Kamps 4), Aces 15 (Blotkamp 4)
Victor – Kills 3 (Haylea Wemple 2), Blocks 0, Digs 42 (Ashley Buchanan 9), Assists 44 (Madi Barta 8), Aces 9 (Barta 3).
