ENTERPRISE – In a five-set thriller, the Lady Dawgs from Nyssa upended Enterprise in Wapiti League volleyball action Friday afternoon by scores of 26-24, 25-27,19-25, 25-12 and 16-14.

The match ended in the fifth game when Stephanie Jensen smashed a hard cross-court kill shot that caromed off an Enterprise player.

The setting skills of tiny Katie Hartly helped the victors keep the pressure on Enterprise with an attacking offense. A tip to an open spot on the court by Hartly concluded the first game for Nyssa while Enterprise won the highly competitive second game on a kill by Aki Kawasaki and a serving ace by Shana Beck.

Enterprise led 14-12 in the fifth set, but an EHS error and three Nyssa kills off Hartly sets spelled the difference.

Union bests Joseph

UNION – The strong net play of Jana Brotherton and setting skills of Melissa Helmer led the Union Bobcat volleyball team to a 25-12, 25-8, 25-6 Wapiti League win over the Joseph Eagles Friday afternoon.

Joseph coach Kendall Hayes had nothing but praise for the senior-laden, experienced Bobcats. She said that her players actually played better than the score would indicate, but kept seeing the ball being returned to Joseph’s side of the net.

She said there were several long rallies which Union eventually won.

Jessie Botham led the Eagles with six serving aces, while Danae Micka was JHS’s top dig producer with eight.

Wallowa netters

beat Powder Valley

NORTH POWDER – Wallowa High School’s volleyball squad thrashed a good Powder Valley team in North Powder Friday by scores of 25-12, 25-10 and 25-15. Wallowa only made two passing errors on the day.

Wallowa coach Terri Wilson was pleased to note that all six of her starting players recorded at least three kills during the Old Oregon League match.

Wallowa’s season record was upped to 9-1 on the season. Wallowa – led by Lynique Oveson, Holli Barton and Amanda Wilson – served at a 91-percent clip on the day and hit at 84 percent. Sarah Bomberger had nine blocks for WHS, six of them of the solo variety.

Mac-Hi falls to Vale

MILTON-FREEWATER – The Mac-Hi Pioneers dropped a pair of Greater Oregon League volleyball matches Saturday, falling to Vale in the afternoon 25-17, 25-15, 25-10 and coming up short against Ontario in the evening 25-20, 25-16, 25-20.

It was the second time Mac-Hi has faced the two schools and coach Pam Frank said even though her team lost she could see an improvement in their play compared to the previous meetings.

“We played 100 percent better than we did two weeks ago,” she said. “I was very pleased.”

Katie Roehm was a perfect 16-for-16 from the service line with three aces and Kim Pease went 19-for-20 with five aces to lead the team.

The two losses dropped the Pioneers to 2-15 overall, 0-5 in GOL play.

Wheeler downs Echo

ECHO – The Wheeler volleyball team downed Echo 13-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-11 in a Big Sky Conference match Saturday.

The Falcons improved to 3-0 Big Sky, 6-6 overall while the Cougars fell to 1-1, 6-7.

“In the first match we were out of sync but we pulled it together and took the win,” Wheeler coach Larissa Hansen said. “Lily Herrera and Bekkie Bowerman had some unbelievable digs along with the solid play of Brianne Bostian helped us win the match.”

Hansen praised the play of server Kaylea Pierce, the strong hitting of Micci Mortimore and Cara Greenfield, who had five kills in the contest.

Pirates drop two matches

BOARDMAN – The Riverside Pirates volleyball team gave a good accounting of themselves, but dropped a pair of Greater Oregon League matches Saturday, falling to Vale 26-24, 25-13 , 25-21.

Earlier in the day the Pirates dropped a 25-15, 27-25, 25-21 decision to Ontario.

Riverside coach Fred Long said his team played pretty well, but tended to press and get nervous at certain times throughout the match.

“It’s really a psychological thing,” he said. “We’re just finding out we can play with people.”

Riverside drops to 6-6 overall and 1-5 in the GOL.