Central Oregonian

Cowgirls overpower Storm

Crook County easily wins match against last year’s Class 5A state champions

Lon Austin

October 08, 2012

In a battle between defending state champions, Crook County (4A) dominated visiting Summit (5A) 25-13, 25-12, 26-28, 25-18 in Intermountain Hybrid Conference action.

For the second consecutive match, the Cowgirls were playing without two-time Class 4A player of the year, Makayla Lindburg, who is out with a kidney infection.

“You guys have fried your brains this week,” Crook County head coach Rosie Honl told her team following the match. “It’s been a tough week sickness-wise and injury-wise. We have had different setters, different hitters, and different lineups, but you are a resilient and tenacious team.”

Honl added that the Cowgirls have gone through six different lineups in the last two weeks.

However, regardless of what lineup the Cowgirls put on the floor, they have continued to win.

The Cowgirls rolled out to an 11-2 lead in the first set of the match before the Storm knew what hit them. The second set was just as one-sided as the Cowgirls opened up a 13-3 lead.

Summit regrouped in the third set of the match. Neither squad was able to open up more than a three-point lead in the game as the Storm finally prevailed 28-26. Game four was also close early. However, the Cowgirls were able to pull away late to take the 25-18 win and close out the match.

Hannah Troutman finished the match with 19 kills while Annie Fraser had a season-high 14. Both players also had 14 digs to lead the Cowgirls in that category.

“It was nerve-wracking at the beginning for sure,” Fraser said. “We missed Lindburg for sure, but we found a way to do it.” It was fantastic and we served them off the court.”

Kathryn Kaonis and Karlee Hollis also had strong hitting performances, finishing with seven and six kills respectively.

Laney Hayes led the Storm with 13 kills while Brenna Roy finished with 10 digs.

In spite of the strong performance from their hitters, it was serving that won the match for the Cowgirls. The team hit 93 of their 99 service attempts and finished with 18 aces.

Ali Apperson finished the match 19 for 19 with three aces, while Fraser was 21 for 24 with five aces.

Seldom-used defensive specialist Cheyenne Camara also had an outstanding serving night. Playing because of the absence of Lindburg and defensive specialist Elsa Harris, Camara was 15 for 15 from the service line with a pair of aces.

Laken Berlin also had a strong service night, going 18 for 19 with a pair of aces.

“I’m tickled pink,” Honl said. “Injuries are tough to take, but these girls are just so mindful. It was a huge win for our confidence. We don’t want them to come into our house and think they can win.”

Lindburg is expected to be cleared to play on Monday, and the Cowgirls are expected to finally be back at full strength for the first time in nearly three weeks.

With the victory, the Cowgirls have won their last six matches in a row and are now 12-2 on the season. Meanwhile, Summit fell to 9-8 on the season.

Crook County is back in action tonight when they host the Mountain View Cougars in a 6:30 p.m. match.