Yreka JV 2 – Etna JV 0

ETNA – For several years Yreka dominated Etna on the volleyball court. Then, three years ago, Etna began to dominate. The 2009 version of the rivalry, played Tuesday night, was a toe-to-toe battle that went the full five games before Etna emerged victorious, 3-2.

Etna won games one and two. The Lady Miners rebounded to win games three and four. Etna managed to win game five for the match.

Game one looked to be a blowout for Etna, as the Lady Lions jumped to a 9-1 lead. With the score tied 1-1, Etna’s Claire Pynes rotated to server and the Lions ripped off eight straight points, including six aces by Pynes.

Etna led, 12-4, when the Lady Miners made their bid. A side out made it 12-5, and Olivia Duncan took the serve for Yreka. A pair of aces by Duncan made the score 12-7. By the time the 8-0 Yreka run was done, the game was knotted at 12-12.

The lead would change hands five times over the course of the second half of the game. Yreka took its final lead 24-23 on an ace by Duncan. A kill by Pynes tied it 24-24. Etna’s Katie Eiler nailed two aces in a row to give Etna the 26-24 win.

Etna led almost the entire way in game-two, winning 25-19.

Etna seemed to be in control of game-three, leading multiple times by as much as six points. The Lady Lions led 21-15, when Duncan hammered a kill to make the score 21-16 and give Yreka the serve. The Lady Miners closed to within one point, before Pynes registered a kill to stop Yreka’s run, and up Etna’s advantage to 23-21. A kill by Mallory Greenfield made it a one-point contest again, 23-22. Katie Todd served up a pair of aces for Yreka to grab the lead 24-23. Yreka scored the next point for the win 25-23.

Etna had the lead again early in game-four, 4-0, but Yreka came back to tie the score at 11-11. Yreka went up 17-16, and stayed in front the remainder of the game, winning 25-23.

Two kills by Pynes and an ace by Annaleisa Nadig gave the Lady Lions a 3-0 lead to start the decisive game-five. With Etna leading 10-8, MacKenzie Allen and Duncan combined for a block to narrow the gap to a single point 10-9. Etna’s Abby Travis knocked down a kill making 11-9. An Etna service error gave Yreka the serve with the score 11-10.

A kill by Duncan tied the game at 11-11. Eiler answered for Etna, making it 12-11 for the Lady Lions. Etna led 13-12, when controversy struck.

Yreka’s Greenfield hammered a hit that was blocked by Etna’s Eiler and Travis. The officials initially ruled that the block went out of bounds and awarded the point to Yreka. That would have tied the game 13–13, with the Lady Miners serving. However, after a lengthy discussion among officials, the call was reversed, saying that the ball touched a Yreka player before going out of bounds.

The point was awarded to Etna, making the Lady Lions’ advantage 14-12. Yreka was unable to return Keri Luiz’ serve, giving Etna the 15-12 game win, and 3-2 match victory.

Etna improved to 9-10-0 (2-0) this season and will host Mt. Shasta (5-4-1, 1-1) on Thursday for a Shasta Cascade League showdown. Yreka dropped to 4-7-2 and will host Lassen (6-8-1) for its Northern Athletic League opener on Thursday.

Yreka’s JV squad defeated Etna’s JVs 2-0 (25-15, 25-10).