Sandy volleyball’s quartet of seniors shine in final home game

Published 9:10 pm Thursday, October 19, 2023

Sandy volleyball was all smiles Thursday evening, Oct. 19. How could you not when a talented group of seniors celebrated their final home match with a flurry of jaw-dropping plays.

On Senior Night, against a plucky visiting Reynolds, who plays beyond its winless record, the Pioneers reveled in the showing of its veterans — seniors Chloe Sperr, libero; Lena Corcoran, setter; Keira Espino, outside hitter; and Olivia McVicar, middle blocker.

The quartet, after standing ovations as they walked out onto the court a final time, surrounded by families, friends and loved ones, combined to score 34 points and notch 10 aces against the Raiders.

Sperr was the defensive force for Sandy, with several diving digs to keep rallies alive. Corcoran not only set up her talented teammates, but also flashed moments of scoring brilliance, highlighted by a trio of back-to-back aces in the waning moments of the third set. Espino had a series of inspired scores, including a few violent spikes that left the stands shaking. And McVicar had a team-high 11 scores while having the Reynolds hitters think twice with her daunting blocks at the net.

All of it led to a relative smooth 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-8) win for Sandy over Reynolds in the final night of Mt. Hood Conference play. Now the Pioneers (12-10, 6-8 League) await word from the bracketologists about what postseason will bring.

It was a slow start for both sides, with a handful of errors leading to a slow 7-7 opening. Then Sandy found its footing. McVicar seemed to wake her side up with a thunderous spike to break the tie, with the Pioneers going on to outscore the visitors 18-7 to win the first set.

Reynolds (0-19, 0-14 League) had the home team sweating in set two. Sophomore Jamiah Sims had a couple blocks at the net to turn back promising Pioneers plays, and then sophomore Elmedina Jashari put on a show. She clinically dismantled the Sandy defense with a series of lofted kills that avoided the blockers and dropped short of the backline. Jashari scored 5-in-a-row to build a 16-10 advantage, the largest Reynolds would have all night.

But Sandy methodically began chipping away. Corcoran tied it at 17-all, and then Espino retook the lead. After a bit more back and forth, the Pioneers pulled away.

After that flurry from Reynolds, and nearly claiming the set win, they seemed to lose energy in the third. Some easy scores let Sandy build an 11-1 lead, which then snowballed into the win.