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John L. Braese
STANFIELD – Four teams will descend on the Stanfield gym on Saturday, Oct. 26 to take the court in the battle for the 2A Blue Mountain title. The top two teams standing will advance to the state volleyball tournament with the remaining two teams hoping for one of the two at-large bids handed out by the OSAA.
Starting promptly at noon, the Grant Union Prospectors take on the Weston-McEwen TigerScots.
The Prospectors finished the season with a 10-16 overall record including a 5-5 conference showing. On the alternate side of the net, the TigerScots posted a 17-9 overall record including a 6-4 conference record. Grant Union is currently ranked 16th in the state while the TigerScots hold a top 10 ranking at tenth.
In the two previous meetings this season, the TigerScots grabbed victories in both. Meeting on Sept. 19, Weston-McEwen walked away with a 3-1 victory. The Oct. 3 showdown proved to be much closer with the two teams going five sets. After the TigerScots won a close first set, the Prospectors rolled into a second set victory followed by a third set win. Weston-McEwen battled back for a close victory in the fourth set and claimed the match in a fifth set 15-10 win.
The winner of the Grant Union/Weston-McEwen playoff match will have time to grab some water and an energy bar before taking the court versus the Heppner Mustangs.
The Mustangs hit the tournament after a 19-7 overall season record and an 8-2 conference record equating to a seventh-place state ranking. The lone two losses come at the hands of Stanfield with Heppner having to go to five sets with the TigerScots on both meetings this season. The matches with Grant Union were not as close with Heppner winning 3-1 and 3-0. The Mustangs did fall to the Prospectors in a very early tournament matchup on Aug. 21, 2-0.
The victor of game two will then take on the regular season champion Tiger of Stanfield.
After playing host and watching the previous two matches of the day, Stanfield, ranked fourth in the state, wrapped up the season with a 16-5 overall record including a 9-1 Blue Mountain showing. After starting the season 1-4, the Tigers caught fire winning eight of their final nine times on the court. The lone conference loss came at home as the TigerScots took a 3-2 victory, a match that saw the two teams go back and forth right up until the fifth and final set.
The Blue Mountain Conference champion is guaranteed a home match to begin the march towards a state title. Second place will need to wait until 10 p.m. on Oct. 29 as rankings freeze and the bracket is released.