Taylor Trent at the net.

Photos by Brenda Graham

The Burns Hilander volleyball team started off the week with a revenge game at Melba High School in Idaho. Burns lost to Melba the week before at the Sisters Tournament in a hard-fought game, losing 2-1.

On Thursday, Sept. 18, the Hilanders exacted their revenge, winning in five sets, 29-27, 17-25, 26-24, 18-25, 15-10.

Megan Weil led the team in attacking, racking up 18 kills in the five sets. Jocelyn Graham picked up 14 kills, Amaya Ballard finished with 13 kills, while Natalee Otley-Smith had three kills and Taylor Trent finished with two kills.

Ballard led the girls in serving with three aces. Trent finished with two aces, while Bailey Temple, Graham and Weil each finished with one ace.

Weil ended the day with seven blocks, while Shelby Peasley and Trent each finished with three. Ballard and Otley-Smith each had two and Graham ended with one block.

Temple had 30 digs on the evening, with Ballard digging 15 balls, while Graham had 10 digs, Hayley Smith finished with seven digs, Weil had three and Otley-Smith had two digs.

Trent finished the game with all 46 assists.

Two days later on Saturday, Sept. 20, the Hilanders traveled to North Marion High School for a tournament. The tournament consisted of eight 4A schools, with the Hilanders the only 3A school.

The girls started off pool play defeating both Molalla and Astoria in straight sets.

Ranked second heading into the tournament, Burns quickly dispatched Tillamook in straight sets 25-12, 25-12. They then took on the No. 7 ranked Pendleton Buckaroos and won in three sets, 25-15, 23-25, 15-6. 

In the championship, Burns faced-off against the No. 3 team in 4A, Philomath. The girls won the first set 25-23, lost the second 25-16, and won the third set 15-10, to win the championship.

For the tournament, Graham finished with 19 kills, one ace, two blocks and 10 digs.

Temple finished with seven aces and 30 digs. Trent had two kills, two aces, one block, 13 digs and 72 assists. Otley-Smith had two kills, two blocks, two digs and one assist. Ballard finished with 22 kils, five aces, and 15 digs. Peasley ended the day with one kill, one block, and four digs. Weil finished with 36 kills, five aces, six blocks, and seven digs.

Burns took to the road on Tuesday, Sept. 23, with a trip to Vale. Score and stats were unavailable at press time.

They finish off the week hosting Riverside and Umatilla on Friday, Sept. 26, and Mac-Hi on Saturday, Sept. 27.