They say you’ve got to beat the best to be the best.
What about when you dismantle them?
No. 5 Corbett volleyball turned what was billed as a clash between two of the top teams in the state into a rout as they hosted No. 14 Yamhill-Carlton on a stormy Wednesday evening, Sept. 25.
“With only this Wednesday game this week we put extra time during practices to figure (Yamhill) out,” said senior middle blocker Ursula Harrington. “In the end we dominated.”
It was a mixture of strategies. The Cardinals knew the Tigers wanted to target those corners, and use its confusing scramble on the court to throw the defense out of sorts. Offensively the plan for Corbett was to unleash a back-row attack, and play faster on offense. Oh, and set up some monster kills to the dominating middle-blocker duo of Harrington and fellow senior Taylor Young.
“Our middles were on fire — if Yamhill is only going to put up a single block our girls are going to hit hard through it,” said Coach Angela Davis.
“Everything is finally coming together this year and we are able to destroy other teams,” Harrington added.
Corbett beat Yamhill-Carlton 3-0 (25-14, 25-12, 25-13) in a match between the two lone unbeatens in the Coastal Range League.
“I am really proud of our girls. Yamhill is a good team, but they play a different kind of volleyball,” Davis said. “I told them when the ball comes over, we are going to play our kind of volleyball.”
For Harrington, “Corbett volleyball” is all about the mindset.
“This year it is coming out and showing we are here to win every game and every practice,” she said. “We want to go all the way and win state.”
For the Cardinals (9-1, 5-0 League), Young had a game-high 14 kills; Harrington had 11 kills and 4 blocks; senior outside hitter Sammi Blume had 5 kills and 3 aces; senior setter Greta Miller had 4 kills and 3 aces; and sophomore defensive specialist Payton Lee had 4 aces.
For the Tigers (7-5, 5-1 League), senior middle blocker Dakota King had 3 kills and 2 blocks; sophomore outside hitter Kelsie King had 4 kills; and senior Libero Ria Wolfe had 3 aces.
In both opening sets it was back-and-forth early. But each time the Cardinals went on a big run to claim it. In set one it was an 11-2 run, powered by a pair of aces from Lee. In set two it was even more lopsided — a 19-5 run for the Cardinals.
“This team is playing with a lot of confidence, more so than last year,” Davis said. “When they do drop some points, or it is close, they know they are the better team and are confident they will win.”
“They don’t seem to panic,” she added.
The two sides will meet again in the final regular season match. The game will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Yamhill-Carlton High School.
Local News
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