This article bought you by Malheur Drug in Vale.
VALE – After last year, one forgets how loud a raucous crowd is when two county teams in the same league meets for a league matchup. The crowd in the Vale gym on Thursday, Sept. 16 represented the best of the Bulldogs and Vikings-screaming at every point, noisy during the serve and hanging in the gym until the very end.
At that end, Vale continued a years’ long dominance over the Dawgs with a 3-1 volleyball victory.
The first game saw the Viks dominate from the start. Nyssa was able to pull to a 5-5 tie, but from that point, the Vikings took control. A long serve from the Bulldogs handed Vale a 25-13 win.
Game two saw a different Bulldog team as the serves were hitting the mark and the kills were coming with ease. The two teams played it close until Nyssa took a lead for good at the 10-9 mark. A final kill by Nyssa junior Gracie Johnson provided the Bulldogs a 25-17 win and evened up the match at one game each.
Nyssa fans were disappointed to see the momentum fail to carry over to game three as Vale started with five straight points. Never trailing, the Viks cruised to a 25-15 win.
A slow start for the Bulldogs again placed Nyssa behind early in the fourth and final game. Vale jumped out to a 6-1 margin before Nyssa was able to come back and knot up the score at 8-8. Vale again stepped up their game and led by four when Nyssa head coach Maddie Speelman called for the time out. Speelman’s speech had to be good as the Bulldogs tied up the score at 20 points and briefly led 21-20 over the Vikings. An ace serve by Haylee Cleaver gave Vale the lead back at 23-22 and the Vikings finished off the match with a 25-22 victory.
The dominance of Vale over Nyssa may be years long for some, but for one Viking, the victory was new.
“This was a huge win for our team and the first time I have ever had the opportunity to go against our county rivals,” said Vale varsity freshman Elise Seals. “We had some ups and downs, but we played as a team and took the win.”
“We communicated so much better tonight than in our past few games,” said Vale senior Taleah Zueger. “We played our game and kept the pressure on.”
Related – Photo Gallery – Vale v Nyssa – John Braese
As a team, Vale served at 90 percent led by Jessi Arriola’s perfect 12-for-12 with three aces and Lexi Cleaver’s 11-for-11 with two aces.
Zueger ended her night with 30 digs aided by Haylee Cleaver’s 17 digs.
Offensively, the Vikings saw 10 kills by Lexi Cleaver and seven kills each by Haylee Cleaver and Kailey McGourty. Ali Aldred added 26 assists.
