Helix's Chyanne Hack spikes the ball past Ione's Brianna Peterson on the Grizzlies' 4-1 over the Cardinals on Thursday in Helix.<BR><I>Staff Photo</I>

HELIX – After rolling throught the South?Wasco Tournament last weekend and dispatching Echo on Tuesday, Helix volleyball made another step toward getting to the state championship game for the third time in four years by beating Ione in four games, 23-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-22.

Ione (9-2, 2-1 Big Sky) put the Grizzlies (16-4, 2-0 Big Sky) on notice early that it wouldn’t be an easy night by building a five-point lead in the first set and then hanging on to stun the full house on hand.

While the crowd was getting antsy, Helix and it’s core of experienced seniors and juniors were not rattled and played just well enough to prevent the match from going the distance.

“We knew Ione was going to be a lot tougher than they have in the past,” said Helix’s Meghan?Schroeder, one of four seniors with championship-game experience. “We came out ready to play a tough team.?All we knew was they had some heavy hitters.?That first game we came out kind of slow, but it was a learning experience.?We made some adjustments and played our game.”

At first it seemed as if the Cardinals might force a fifth set. Ione had a 22-19 lead in the fourth set, but a kill by junior Chyanne?Hack and an ace by senior Addy Terjeson tied it up at 22 all, giving Helix the momentum it needed to seal the match.

Helix benefited from timely, accurate serving with just one service error, including an impressive five-point run by Terjeson to start game three that gave the Grizzlies some breathing room after two tough set to start the match.

“We knew they were going to be tough the whole time,” Terjeson said. “We knew we just had to play our game, go slow and do our thing.”

Terjeson ended 20-for-20 serving with six kills, senior setter Kylee Rogers contributed 33 assists and Hack had 10 kills. Seniors Britney Smith and?Schroeder each had nine kills.

“My girls, I thought, came through and did a great job of rotating on defense and keeping our cool,” said Grizzlies head coach Tammie Parker. “Our serves helped us a lot.”

For Ione, the serve turned into an enemy. The Cardinals had 22 service errors, continuing a disturbing recent trend.

“The intensity was there for both teams,” said?Ione head coach Dawn Eynetich. “We played a great game except we missed a ton of serves again.?We missed a ton of serves. Serves will be crucial next week in practice.”

Senior Brianna Peterson led the Cardinal attack with 10 kills and four blocks. Beth Morter, a junior, added seven kills and five blocks, while sophomore setter Makenna Ramos finished with 28 assists.

Ione sees action tomorrow at Condon-Wheeler starting at 6 p.m., while Helix plays at Elgin on Oct. 6, starting at 5 p.m.