Photos by Brie Phillips

YREKA – West Valley (9-0, 32-8) simply doesn’t lose in Northern Athletic League play. And although the young Yreka Lady Miners varsity team didn’t defeat the powerful Eagles, they did make them sweat in the first two very competitive games of the match.

Perhaps it was senior night that inspired the Lady Miners, or maybe it was the idea that it was their last home game of the season. Whatever the reason, Yreka (1-8, 3-17-1) played one of its best matches of the season.

Yreka jumped out to a 5-1 lead in game-one, behind a pair of thundering kills by senior Carrie Watson. The Eagles narrowed it to 7-6, but a kill and an ace by Mallory Greenfield pushed the lead back to three points at 9-6. Yreka extended its lead to seven points, 16-9, on a pair of aces by Jessany Munoz. The Eagles, however, battled back to tie the game at 19-19. A kill by Kayla Wisler temporarily regained the lead for Yreka at 20-19. But, West Valley scored the next six points to take the game 25-20.

The Miners also started well in game-two, going up 5-4 on a Katie Todd kill. The squads traded leads until West Valley went up for good at 11-10. Trailing 23-17, the Miners made a run starting with a couple of Watson kills, making it 23-19. A kill by K. Todd and an ace by Munoz cut the margin to 23-21, but that was as close as it got. The Eagles went on to win 25-21.

Game-three was a fly by for the Eagles, as West Valley dominated 25-9, winning the match 3-0.

Carrie Watson went off in the match with 13 kills and eight blocks. Greenfield recorded six kills and three aces. Munoz notched three aces, and a kill. Todd had three kills. Whitney Ebejer had four blocks.

Junior Varsity

The Yreka JV squad came out hitting on all cylinders, going up 6-2 over West Valley early in game-one. The Eagles tied the score at 9-9, and took the lead 10-9. The Lady Miners came back to regain the lead at 14-12, only to see West Valley go back up 19-16. Trailing 19-17, the JV Lady Miners fought back to tie the score at 19-19, on a kill by Karlee Andrighetto, and a block by MacKenzie Allen. West Valley outscored Yreka 6-1 the rest of the way for a 25-20 win.

The Eagles cruised to a 25-13 win in game two, for a 2-0 match win.

Frosh

After trailing big early, the Yreka frosh squad came back to tie game-one 18-18, before West Valley went on to win 25-20. The Eagles also took game-two 25-14, and the match 2-0.