Umpqua started off their 2022 season at the Red Devils Round Robin tournament hosted by Lower Columbia.
The Riverhawks (2-2) started off strong with their first opening day match with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-22) win over Centralia before facing closer battles later on in the tournament. Ally Winkler led the team with the highest hitting percentage of .429 (6 kills, 0 errors, 14 attempts), but there were other offensive contributions from Kampstra (9 kills), Paroz (7 kills), Whitmore (5 kills), Chavez (3 kills), and Weckerle and Combie (2 kills).
The following 3 matches, that all took place on Saturday, would give them a better look at what their season would hold for them playing 2 of their south region opponents, Clackamas and Mt. Hood.
Saturday they started off with Clackamas who they worked together to take a 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 24-26, 25-7) win over. After their first set loss of the season, they decided to rally together to swiftly end the match in the 4th set, 25-7. "The 4th set really showed more of what we could do. Everyone was doing their job, and doing it well. The defense gave us some great opportunities for us to run our offense and the setters made great decisions and connections," said Coach CJ Roberts. Leading the team at the net was Trinity Kampstra with 11 kills on 19 attempts and a .368 hitting percentage. Jocelyn Chavez and Eve Elmore contributed from behind the service line with 5 (Chavez) and 4 (Elmore) aces.
Their 2nd matchup on Saturday was against Mt. Hood who they took a 3-1 (21-25, 19-25, 25-19, 16-25) loss from. Sierra Paroz led the Hawks in their battle against the Saints with a double-double racking up 15 kills and 13 digs. Eve Elmore also tallied 13 digs for the Hawks with a 2.167 serve receive percentage. Jenna Whitmore took over at the net defensively making the Saints work for their points while she grabbed 4 solo blocks at the net to contribute to the Hawks 11 total blocks this match. Jules Asa was a huge contributer dishing out 18 assists for the second time during the Red Devil Tournament.
Their last match of their tournament was against the host, the Lower Columbia Red Devils. A hard fought battle, but an outcome unfavorable for the Hawks as they fell 0-3 (22-25, 14-25, 20-25) to the Red Devils. Leading the Hawks during this challenge was Kampstra at the net with 10 kills and 4 blocks (2 solo, 2 assists). Elmore persisted with her great defense with 11 digs and a 2.056 serve receive percentage.
Coach Roberts is excited for this week stating, "They have already suprised other teams as well as themselves with their level of play. They are getting better individually and as a team each time they step on the court. I'm looking forward to the rest of this pre-season trip on the road to see the growth and improvement that comes out of it."
The Riverhawks have only just started as these were the first 4 of 11 matches to come over the span of just 9 days. Their pre-season road trip started with the Red Devil Tournament in Longview, WA (4 matches). Following they will travel to Lakewood, WA on Tuesday 8/30/22 to compete against Olympic and Pierce. Thursday 9/1/22 they will head over the pass to take on Yakima Valley (1 match) before their final stop in Pasco, WA for the Columbia Basin Invitational (4 matches) following their return home.
Go Hawks!
