Wallowa falls in league opener to Imbler

Published 11:20 pm Sunday, September 10, 2023

WALLOWA — Playing on the road, the Imbler volleyball team opened the 1A Old Oregon League season with a 3-0 victory over the host Wallowa Cougars on Thursday, Sept. 7.

The hometown Cougars had the opportunity to set the tone in the first set, pushing the game into extra points; however, the Panthers pulled out the 26-24 win and then won the second set, 25-20.

Imbler put away the match in the third set, taking a 25-16 victory.

“We just need to clean up the mental part of our game and fix the little controllables,” said Wallowa coach Janea Young.

Even in the loss, Young said team captains Zoe Hermans and Sophie Mueller showed a strong mental game in keeping the squad focused.

“Cecilia April was aggressive on defense tonight for us,” said Young.

Wallowa, like many teams, is battling an early season cold and flu problem making the rounds.

“We have wipes all over the place and are trying to keep the girls from drinking from each other’s water bottles,” Young said.

Wallowa bounced back on Friday, Sept. 8 with a 3-0 victory over Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler in Fossil. The Cougars opened the first set with a 25-18 victory and claimed the second set, 25-19. Wallowa closed out the match with a 25-15 victory in the third set.

The Cougars (6-3 overall, 0-1 1A Old Oregon League) have a pair of league matches scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 14 at Wallowa. The Cougars play Cove at 4 p.m. and follow up with a 6 p.m. match against Pine Eagle.

Joseph cracks pollJOSEPH — The Joseph volleyball team’s successful start to the season has caught the eye of the state’s coaches, as evidenced in the latest coaches’ poll, released Friday, Sept. 8 by the Oregon School Activities Association.

Unranked in the preseason by the coaches, the Eagles’ 3-1 start propelled the Eagles into the top 10 in the 1A poll, with Joseph now ranked eighth.

The poll was conducted prior to Joseph attending the St. Paul Invitational, in which the team won two matches in afternoon bracket play.

Joseph (now 5-1) opened 1A Old Oregon League play on the road versus Cove on Tuesday, Sept. 12. Results of that match were not available by press time.

Enterprise splits twoThe Outlaws (0-1 in league play, 2-6 overall) will be gunning for their third win of the season when they travel to Irrigon on Thursday, Sept. 14. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Coach Lisa Farwell’s squad collected its second win of the season on Wednesday, Sept. 6 with a hard-fought five-set win over Elgin. The Outlaws took the first set, 25-16 but stumbled in the second, losing 25-10. Enterprise rebounded in the third set with a 25-12 win, but couldn’t put the match away in the fourth set, which Elgin won in extra points, 28-26.

But the Outlaws rallied again in the fifth and decisive set, winning 15-12.

The next evening, Thursday, Sept. 7, the Outlaws traveled to Stanfield, where they lost in three sets, 25-7, 25-22 and 25-15.