Central Oregonian

Cowgirls crush Cougars

Crook County wins 25-6, 25-10, 25-19 to remain undefeated in the Intermountain Hybrid League

Lon Austin

October 11, 2012

The Crook County Cowgirls have shown once again that they are the dominant team in the Intermountain Conference Hybrid League.

The Cowgirls rolled past the Mountain View Cougars on Tuesday to remain undefeated in the league with just four matches remaining in the league schedule.

“Passing and serving — those were the two keys,” head coach Rosie Honl told her team following the match. “I loved the dominance. You came out and played two great games.”

Leading 3-2 in game one, the Cowgirls went on a tear. They outscored the Cougars 21-3 the remainder of the set with Ali Apperson serving the final 10 points of the set. Game two was more of the same as the Cowgirls rolled to an easy 25-10 win. Game three was closer. However, Crook County remained in control throughout as they won the set 25-19.

“We came out and played two great games, but then kind of fell asleep in the third game,” Honl said. “Playing against a less- skilled team, that’s easy to do.”

However, Honl was quick to add that Mountain View was in the Class 5A playoffs last year and currently has 10 seniors on their roster.

The Cowgirls were led by Apperson’s serving. The senior defensive specialist was 24 for 24 from the service line in the match including eight aces. As a team, the Cowgirls were 73 for 78 serving with 16 aces.

Makayla Lindburg, who missed the last two matches with a kidney infection returned to lead the Cowgirl offense. Lindburg finished with 14 kills in just 18 attempts while making only one hitting error in the match.

Hannah Troutman also had a solid offensive outing with nine kills in 14 attempts, while Annie Fraser added six kills.

With the victory, the Cowgirls move to 13-2 overall and 6-0 in the Intermountain Hybrid League. Meanwhile, Mountain View dropped to 5-9 overall and 1-5 in league.

Crook County is back in action on Saturday at the Clearwater Classic in Bend. The 32-team tournament, which features many of the top 5A and 6A team in the state, is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. The Cowgirls begin the tournament at Summit High School. Play will continue into the afternoon Saturday with the Gold Division playing at Bend High School, the Silver Division at Mountain View and the Bronze Division at Summit High School. Crook County is seeded fifth in the tournament and is expected to play in the Gold Bracket.

Teams to watch for in the tournament include Central Catholic, Roseburg, Jesuit, and West Albany.

The Cowgirls will return to league action on Tuesday when they host Bend in a 6:30 p.m. match.