La Grande sweeps Ontario in Greater Oregon League play

ONTARIO — The La Grande volleyball team scored a league win over Ontario Thursday night 25-18, 27-25 and 25-23.

The win improved the Tigers to 2-1 in league play. La Grande controlled the first game from the outset, getting up 18-8 before Ontario made a little bit of a comeback.

Game 2 saw both teams in the lead, but it was LHS that closed it out late to take a two-game lead.

Ontario jumped out to a 7-0 lead in Game 3, but the Tigers made a run and came back to take the lead and eventually the match.

“Ontario is a scrappy team and they play tough,” La Grande head coach Melinda Becker said.

Mariah Sain had five kills while Kaylee Gerdes chipped in three kills and three stuffed blocks.

Next, La Grande traveled to Seaside for a 16-team tournament Saturday among some of the top teams in the state.

The Tigers opened up play with a match against the third ranked team in the state, La Salle.

The Falcons played to their ranking and downed LHS in both games 25-12 and 25-17.

LHS then played the host team Seaside. Both matches were competitive and up for grabs, but Seaside was able to pull out the win 25-21 and 25-22.

The Tigers finished pool play against Sweet Home, winning the first game 25-22 but dropping the second game 25-20.

For bracket play the Tigers made the consolation round where they were pitted against Estacada.

La Grande dropped both games to the Rangers 25-12 and 25-17 to finish tournament play.

“This weekend was a really good experience for our team,” Becker said. “We got the opportunity to play some good competition and play at a different competition level. I think this was beneficial for the girls.”

Aleia May had seven kills for the Tigers, while Shelby Hasse contributed 15 assists and five kills.

Gerdes tallied four kills and two stuffed blocks on the day. Allie Godfrey got some playing time off the bench and contributed a lot to the team, according to Becker.

“I got an opportunity to play some girls that haven’t seen a lot of playing time this season. I think that will help us down the road. This is just a hard-working group of kids and they are getting better every match.”

La Grande returns to league play tonight when they go to McLoughlin. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m.