Huskies make school history

The Elgin Huskies volleyball team wrapped up the 2009 state tournament with a sixth-place finish. Observer file photo

The Huskies (28-17 overall) won one of three games at the eight-team Class 2A tournament Nov. 13-14 at Pacific University in Forest Grove.

Elgin lost 3-1 in its opening contest in the quarterfinals Friday to the Salem Academy Crusaders (26-6).

In a thrilling third game that was tied 15 times, Elgin broke a final deadlock at 20-20 and got a sideout with a Ludwig kill. Ludwig followed by serving two consecutive service points for a 23-20 edge. The Huskies held on for a 25-23 win on Crusader hitting errors.

 Facing another must win situation in Game 4, the Huskies played with a sense of urgency and jumped in front to a 2-0 lead. Salem Academy went up with a 4-0 run, but Elgin came back to knot it 5-5. It was a seesaw battle early as it remained knotted a final time at 14-14. Salem Academy took a 19-16 lead with a 5-2 run and force an Elgin timeout. Salem Academy finished with a 6-1 run for the match win. 

Elgin, guided by eighth year coach Twila Ivins, responded by getting a 3-0 win over the Oakland Oakers (20-4) in Saturday's consolation round.

“It was nice to bounce back from a tough loss and come back and play more relaxed and have a better performance against Oakland,” said Ivins, whose squad also lost to Salem Academy in the 2008 quarterfinals. “It was tough trying to come back from a 2-0 deficit. The girls played their hearts out, though, to get one win. We just couldn't overcome their stronger front line play.”

The Huskies recorded a confidence building 25-19, 25-18, 25-14 win in an 8 a.m. matchup versus Oakland. 

“Chantele Malone served well (7-for-10), and Tara Ludwig helped us take control of the game at the net. Tara played a little conservatively, but she still did a good job. Shelby Smith did a great job of setting, and Karly Knapp took care of the ball well in the front line. We had a really good effort from our seven-player rotation.”

Outside hitters Ludwig and Malone led the Huskies offensive attack in the sweep over Oakland.   

“It was a pretty special season because we accomplished our goals, and we’re very happy about that,” said Ludwig, the Blue Mountain Conference Co Player-of-the-Year with Weston McEwen’s Presley Pahl. “At the beginning of the year we just wanted to take it one game at a time. We focused on playing well at districts to qualify for state and then we wanted to bring home a trophy.”

The Huskies met Blue Mountain Conference arch rival Weston McEwen (26-7) in the fourth place contest. In this fourth meeting between the teams, it was much more prestigious circumstances of the state playoffs and the TigerScots prevailed in a 25-18, 25-18, 25-15 win.

“We have lots of respect for Weston McEwen and they wanted to get a win after we beat them in the district playoffs,” said Ivins. “I think they came out and wanted it a little more than we did. I’m pround of my girls and they’re an amazing team. We’ll miss our seniors (Ludwig, Malone, Beija Robbins), but we’ll have lots of talent returning and hopefully we’ll return to the tournament again next year.”