Long Road Leads Eagle Volleyball Team Home to Open GVC with 15-7 Record

A well-traveled Siskiyous volleyball team will be at home for its first two Golden Valley Conference matches, this Friday night, Oct. 10th, against Shasta and next Wednesday against Feather River. Starting time is 6 p.m.

The Eagles finished a successful preseason with a 15-7 record despite playing all but one of those matches on the road. The only GVC team with a better record is defending state champion Feather River, which is 21-1 and again ranked No. 1 in the state.

After winning 9 matches in a row from Sept. 5th to Sept. 24th, the Eagles moved up into the state's Top 25. They're listed in the most recent state rankings as one of the Best of the Rest, along with conference foe Lassen, which went 10-11 in the preseason before opening GVC play with a win over Redwoods.

Shasta was 4-13 in the preseason, Butte 6-12, and Redwoods 3-9.

New and returning players have helped the Eagles rank first among GVC teams in serve receiving, second in kills and assists, and third by a small margin in service aces, digs, and total blocked shots.

The front line features sophomores Sadie Graviet, Heitiare Moala, Ajhana Tagler, and Rylee Brown and freshman Rowyn McDougall. Graviet leads the team and is ranked 4th among GVC hitters with 188 kills, while Moala is 7th with 137, Brown 9th with 126, and Tagler 12th with 120.

Tagler is ranked 4th among GVC players with 43 total blocks, McDougall is 8th with 31, and Moala 9th with 24.

Four Eagles are in the top 10 in points: Graviet is 4th with 190, Tagler 7th with 169, Brown 9th with 151.5, and Moala 10th with 150.

Freshman setter Mia Hansen ranks 2nd among GVC players with 409 assists and 45 service aces, while sophomore Samantha Oakley is 5th with 31 service aces, and sophomore Quincy Paarsch 12th with 27.

Sophomore Zoe Brooks is 11th on the GVC list with 92 assists and sophomore Maddie Gibson 15th.

Hansen is 5th with 188 digs, sophomore Sarah Speasl 10th with 158, and Paarsch 11th with 153.

Paarsch is 6th in the GVC serve receive rankings with 220, Speasl is 8th with 201, Brown 10th with 178, Oakley 11th with 177, and freshman Delaney Rowe 13th with 169.

After opening conference with two home matches, the Eagles go back on the road for three weeks before finishing the regular season with three home matches: Nov. 7th against Butte, Nov. 12th against Redwoods and Nov. 14th against Lassen.

By Steve Gerace