VOLLEYBALL
■ Pleasant Hill won third place in Class 3A last weekend against Corbett. Among the Billies standouts: Claire Crawford with three aces, six kills, 26 assists, and 17 digs; Cheyenne Green with four aces, 18 kills, and eight digs; Emily Krauss who passed, served and received a 2.29 rating and 17 kills. “The 2024 Billies Volleyball season didn’t end as we had hoped,” coach Jessica Crawford said. “But what a season we had instead. We finished third in state in a very strong 3A classification, won the league for the first time since 1995, won all three tournaments we played in (Cascade Christian, Marist, and Pleasant Hill), and won several matches against 4A and 5A teams (Marshfield, Marist, and Crescent Valley).” The Billies were in line to grab first in 3A before their upset semifinal loss to Burns. “Saying the recent Burns match was a tough loss is an understatement,” Crawford said. “The Burns team competed the entire match and their go-to player had an amazing match. After winning the first two sets, our team just didn’t execute to the level needed to win.” Seniors Crawford and Green received first-team all-state tournament honors. Their senior-season stats: Crawford had 82 aces, 865 assists, 355 digs, 190 kills, and 33 blocks; Green had 74 aces, 418 kills, 289 digs, and 37 blocks; Krauss had 62 aces, 2.09 serve receive rating, 429 digs, and 128 assists; Ruby Jackson had 65 aces, 313 kills, 117 digs and 41 blocks; and Sydney Brink had 131 kills, 61 blocks.
“The seven seniors on this team have been a pleasure to coach and hold a special place in my heart as players and people,” Crawford said. “Having the chance to coach my daughter Claire the last four seasons and both Claire and Anna the past two seasons has been so special.”
GIRLS SOCCER
■ Pleasant Hill lost in penalty kicks, 5-3. Junior Kenna Caldwell-Copeland had 14 saves in their season-ending loss. She finished with 123 saves and 10 clean sheets with only 9 goals allowed in 17 games. The Billies (10-4-3) end their season ranked 13th. “I am very happy and grateful to have coached such a special group of 15 girls this year,” coach Chris Hammond said.
■ Creswell lost to Four Rivers 1-0 with two minutes remaining in overtime last Wednesday in their first round game. The Bulldogs (8-4-3) end their season at No. 11 with third in the league. Coach Dan Smathers said, “Though we are all proud of what we’ve done this year, we are already hungry for next year … We all expect to be a formidable team next year.”
■ Thurston lost to Puntnam 3-2 in its first round of playoffs last week. The Colts (10-5) finish their season at No. 8. Thurston graduates GK Gabriella Montes, Macy Taylor and Alexandria Delpino.
BOYS SOCCER
■ Cottage Grove won its first round against Hidden Valley last week 2-0. Emmanuel Rea scored first off an assist from Armando Legorreta in the second half. The second goal was from Legorreta again off a penalty kick. Josh Burner had three saves that night and had his 8th shutout of the season. However, the Lions then traveled to Crook County where they lost 3-2 against the Cowboys in the quarterfinals. This Lions (12-4) end their season at No. 6 and first in the Sky-Em league. Cottage Grove graduates a slew of seniors: Bruner, Ever Ahilon, Legorreta, Hayes Valley, Tristyn Burnes, Cristian González, Carter Bengtson, and Rogelio Soto-Cruz.
■ Creswell lost to Blanchet Catholic 1-0. The Bulldogs (11-3-1) end their season at No. 9 and first in SD3 Special District 3. Creswell graduates Mikey Trenholm, Joseph Lewis, Slater Curtis, GK Deacon Edwards, Titan Nguyen, Lyosha Mitchell and Diego Pelayo-Vasquez.
■ Springfield lost 7-0 to Summit in their playoff game. The Millers (7-7-1) finish their season at No. 18 and won the Midwestern league. Springfield graduates Leonardo Serratos Alcazar, Manny Alvarado, Mauricio Berduo, Alan Velasquez Cifuentes, Ziaire Zavalla, Logan Syverson, David Morales, Rowan Branch, and Diego Gomez.
