Win places Vale volleyball in driver’s seat

VALE – When district volleyball tournament time rolls around, the home court with the home fans comes into play. So does playing one less match for the district title. After Tuesday night’s Vikings versus Hilanders match, the district tournament looks to be heading to Vale in a few weeks.

The Burns team rolled into Vale looking for retribution after the Vikings downed the Hilanders, 3-1, on the Burns home court on September 24. As the two teams took the court, the Viks stood atop the league rankings with the Hilanders sitting in the second spot.

The first set proved to be all Vale with the Vikings jumping out to an early lead and never looking back. Leading by seven points midway through the game, Vale went on to a 25-19 victory.

The two teams played close to start the second set. The Viks pulled out to a 22-18 margin before Burns Coach Paula Tooney called for a time out. Tooney made the most of the talk as the Hilanders stormed back out and pulled the two teams to a 23-23 tie. Vale picked up the next point and on the game point, Vale’s Tyanna Norton placed a kill down the middle to claim the Viking win.

Game three found the two teams knotted up a total of five times, the last being at the 12-12 mark. From that point, the Hilanders took control of the set and rolled to a 25-17 win.

Game four appeared as if Vale would run away with the set. Leading by as many as six point, Burns fought back to knot up the score at 15. After the Vikings scored the next three points, Tooney again called for a time out. This speech did not have the same effect as the earlier match’s as Vale continued on for a 25-21 win and the match.

From the service line, Vale served at 97 percent with Amber Tolman, Emmersyn Johnson, Lexi Cleaver, Maycee Delong, Sierra Cleaver and Norton all having a perfect night. Norton added four aces.

Johnson led the offense with 11 kills. Demia Harden and Norton each added 10 kills and Jaymeson Jensen added eight. Sierra Cleaver had two blocks.

Delong picked up 13 digs in the win over the Hilanders with Johnson adding 10. Taleah Zueger ended the evening with five digs.

Vale (6-0 3A-6 Eastern Oregon League) has four league matches remaining. Burns (5-2 league) faces three league opponents and an additional two non-league matches. The Hilanders, the defending league champions after playing to a perfect league record last season, looks to return to the state tournament. The Vikings are looking to return to the state playoffs after falling to Salem Academy in the first round last year. The Hilanders run ended with a loss to the same team, Salem Academy, in the consolation match.