DUFUR The Heppner volleyball team rebounded from a four-set loss to Dufur to get their first win of the season on Thursday.

Heppner (1-2) defeated Sherman 25-15, 25-7 and 25-14 behind a strong service game.

Coach Dieter Waite said it was the teams late serving struggles that hurt most in their losses to Dufur after winning the first set in that match 25-21. Dufur (6-0) flipped that score in the next two, then won the fourth 25-17.

We just couldnt close out on a scrappy team in their own gym, Waite said. We served really, really well in the first three (sets) and then kind of lost our serve in the fourth one, and that played a factor for us.

Paige Grieb helped keep the scores close with strong libero play, he said. She finished the day with 18 digs while Maddie Lindsay led the attack with 21 kills.

Waite said all 12 players got to play against Sherman (0-2). 

Heppner will host a tournament on Saturday starting at 9 a.m.

WESTON-MCEWEN 3, UMATILLA 0 At Weston-McEwen, service errors cost the TigersScots (5-2) against Cove earlier in the night, but improved efforts at the line, led them to a three-set sweep of Umatilla in Thursdays night cap. 

After winning the opening set 25-23 against the Leopards (3-2), the Weston-McEwen simply couldnt get their serves to drop, casting away three consecutive sets to Cove 25-13, 25-20, 25-17 to lose. 

We just made way too many service errors, TigerScot coach Shawn White said. That was the story of the night. 

Ali Schreoder was the lone bright spot at the line, keeping all but one serve in play on 30 attempts in two matches Thursday. 

Weston-McEwen beat Umatila 25-12, 25-10, 25-22 in straight sets. 

Senior middle blocker Kayla Peterson won the battles at the net, using her 5-foot-10 frame to tally 16 kills and seven blocks. 

Success has come fairly quickly for the TigerScots (5-2). 

Well keep getting better as we get court time, White said. 

The TigerScots will play at the Heppner tournament on Saturday. 

HELIX 3, RIVERSIDE 1 At Helix, the Grizzlies swept a pair of non-league matches on their home court Thursday, defeating Riverside and Mac-Hi each in four sets. 

Helix (2-0) dropped an early set to each opponent before rattling off a consecutive game wins to close them out. 

The Pirates received the four-set treatment first, falling 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-20, and Mac-Hi took their lumps next losing to the host Grizzles 25-16, 20-25, 25-9, 26-24.

I thought we played really well, Helix coach Tammie Parker said. The kids are showing great improvements in a short amount of time. Were really pleased with what were seeing.

Junior Makenize Mize was a nearly perfect 32-33 serving and also led Helix with 11 kills, Fellow junior Paden Flerchinger was next best, tallying 10 kills.

 

RIVERSIDE 3, MAC-HI 2 At Helix, Riverside rebounded from its opening match loss to Helix with a five-set victory over the Pioneers (0-3). 

The Pirates (3-2) saw improved serving in the second match, something that had plagued their first bout of the evening versus Helix. 

Mac-Hi was able to win the opening set 26-24, before Riverside took sets two, three and the tie-breaker in runaway fashion, in a 24-26, 25-16, 25-21, 19-25, 15-4 victory for the Pirates. 

We got to play a lot of games, Riverside coach Clair Costello said of the evening. We just kept plugging along.

Costello lauded the play of seniors Jenna Shimer and Garbrielle Gandola. But no statistics were reported. 

Riverside hosts an eight-team tournament Saturday. Pool play begins at 10 a.m., with bracket play following at 1:30 p.m. 

IONE 3, IRRIGON 2 At Ione, the Cardinals made their home debut with a back-and-forth five-set match victory over Irrigon on Thursday. 

Ione dropped the opening set, before seesawing their way to a 20-25, 25-10, 21-25, 25-16. 15-3 win.   

Freshman Mya Chapman led Irrigon with three kills and 10 assists.

Boys Soccer

MAC-HI 8, PENDLETON 0  At Milton-Freewater, the Pioneers exploded for five first half goals against Pendleton in their season debut on Thursday. 

Six different players scored goals for Mach-Hi (1-0), which added three more in the second to pour it on the Buckaroos (0-3). 

They played really hard, Pioneer coach Jose Garcia said of his team. They had an awesome first game.

Sophomore Juan Salazar fired the opening salvo, scoring in the 15th minute, and his teammates responded for four more first half goals. 

Gerardo Robles and Miguel Perez led the scoring with two goals a piece, while Salazar, Alberto Herrera, Edgar Facio and Christian Martinez added one each. 

Herrera, Robles, Salazar, Facio and Martinez all assisted on scores in the contest.