No. 17 Sandy volleyball celebrates Senior Night with 3-0 sweep of Gresham

Published 9:33 pm Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Maia Roach, Kalysta Majerak and Kaiya Hollenbeck were diving for digs and smashing kills; Rian Grundmeyer was setting up her teammates by keeping rallies alive and “acing” her serves; Madison Labhart was a towering presence at the net, altering opposing shots.

Together that Sandy volleyball quintet had 17 kills, 13 aces, and 2 blocks on a night when the bright spotlight was placed firmly upon them. Heck, they even sang the National Anthem.

Even in the face of a roaring comeback by visiting Gresham in a hotly contested third set — fittingly spurred by Gophers senior setter Mariah Cook, who returned to the court hobbled after hurting her ankle on a bad fall — those veteran Pioneers never blinked.

“I loved seeing all them put the game away,” said Sandy Coach Katie Tankersley, who stuck with her upperclassmen despite the threatening Gresham surge. “I left all those seniors out there and they did it — that made this win extra special.”

It was Senior Night, how else could it have gone?

“It was really emotional today, very sad, upset, end of an era,” Roach said. “But also very happy, I’ve had a great time being a Pioneer.”

No. 17 Sandy won the final game of the regular season 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 26-24) over Gresham Wednesday evening, Oct. 23.

“It was fantastic winning, we’ve worked hard to come this far,” Roach said.

For Sandy (16-9, 8-6 League), junior Anna Orlowski had a game-high 9 kills with 2 blocks; Roach had 7 kills and 5 aces; Hollenbeck had 4 kills and 3 aces; Grundmeyer had 5 aces; Majerak had 4 kills; and Labhart had 2 kills and 2 blocks.

“The seniors have brought a lot of experience, which really settles the younger players,” Coach Tankersley said.

“I’ve known a lot of my teammates for a long time,” Roach added. “We built a lot of great connections.”

For Gresham (12-13, 4-10 League), sophomore outside hitter Soma Bratcher had a team-high 8 kills; Cook had 4 kills and 2 aces; senior middle blocker Tee Foster-Frison had 4 kills and 2 blocks; junior outside hitter Jolene Swanson had 3 kills and a block; and senior right-side hitter Savanna Stine had 3 kills.

That third set looked like Sandy was going to runaway with the win — up 13-4 after a scorching ace by Roach. But the Gophers slowly began chiseling away at the lead, aided by the bouncy Foster-Frison, who seemingly floated on some nasty kills.

Then Cook went down with that ankle injury, carried off the court, where she got treatment. The Pioneers took advantage of her absence to make it 22-13. Then Cook returned and the Gophers went on a 8-0 run that left the Sandy crowd nervously wringing their hands.

A Bratcher kill tied it at 24 apiece, but eventually the Pioneers crossed the finish line with a winning block by Orlowski.

While this was the final game of the season, the win will secure Sandy’s spot in the playoffs. The Pioneers are excited to keep things going.

“They need to take this momentum with them, what a great time to start peaking,” Tankersley said. “End of the year, see how far we can make it. Every year you want to win a few more.”

“I want to see us push hard and do our best,” Roach added. “Have fun — obviously I want to win — but having fun is the main goal.