Saints go back-to-back in tournament play

MHCC (30-6, 6-0 in league) clinched an NThe Saints volleyball team (30-6, 6-0 in league) clinched an NWAACC tournament position with a five-match sweep in the Dorian Harris Classic Tournament last weekend.

The Dorian Harris is an annual Halloween tournament where the players and coaches are invited to participate in a costume competition. This year the Saints chose the theme “Jazzercise” but Clackamas Community College won the contest with their “Globe Trotters” garb.

This is the second straight tournament the Saints have won, highlighting their consistent play as of late.

Sophomore hitter and outspoken leader Lihau Perreira has earned the tournament MVP award twice in the last two weeks. Head coach Chelsie Speer said, “Lihau has always had the skills, but for the belief in herself – the recognition allows her to believe – she deserves all the credit she’s getting.”

Freshman Xayna Robinson has also received recognition, drawing attention with two all-tournament team awards in the same two-week span.

The five matches MHCC won in the tournament pushes their win streak to 18 matches. During the five matches over the weekend, MHCC only lost one set. That one set was lost to Olympic College, which has maintained the best record in the NWAACC standings (37-4).

The tournament featured multiple teams at or near the top of the standings in their respective divisions. These teams included the Olympic Rangers, Linn-Benton (27-11), Clackamas (27-11), Tacoma (26-10), and the Saints.

Perreira said, “We took care of every team, each match one at a time.” Robinson added, “On the whole, we played very well.”

This proved to be one of the most competitive opportunities the Saints likely will have before they host the NWAACC Tournament Nov.  21-24.

That being said, the Saints had a fortunate draw for the first day of the tournament, playing Whatcom (2-23) and Wenatchee Valley (6-22) and sweeping both teams.

Speer said, “We started out strong. I thought they set the tempo from the very first match.”

The second day proved to be more difficult. After sweeping Umpqua (7-28) in their first match, the Saints advanced to play Tacoma, who is tied for first place in the West Region with Highline (both 7-1 in league play).

Although they swept the Titans of Tacoma, the Saints struggled more than they had with the first two sets being separated by three points or less. They then advanced to play Olympic by defeating Tacoma 25-18 in their third set, completing the fourth straight sweep of the tournament.

“We knew that they [Olympic and Tacoma] were top-runners in the tournament. It’s always nice to watch (scout) a team,” said Perreira.

Olympic also had an easy-going tournament to start with, sweeping both Chemeketa and Umpqua on Friday. On the Rangers’ second day of the tournament, they swept Wenatchee Valley before dropping their first set of the tournament to MHCC’s South Region rival Clackamas.

Olympic then won the next three sets and advanced to the championship match against the Saints.

The Saints defeated Olympic in four sets (25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 25-20) to claim the championship. Robinson said, “They ran a lot of quick sets but we played really well mentally. Wins against good competition give us a lot of confidence.”

The victory marks MHCC’s first victory against a team with 30+ wins and could be a significant win against a likely championship opponent. “I was impressed with how confident we were, and how much of the match we controlled,” said Speer.

Olympic went into the tournament with only three losses on the season, two of them against Blue Mountain who maintains the top ranking in the East Region standings (33-4). Blue Mountain is the only other team to clinch an NWAACC tournament berth (through Thursday).

The Saints have been flying under the radar, not receiving much recognition for most of the season. In the latest coaches poll, Olympic remained at the second spot in the rankings while MHCC maintained third place. Being ranked below Olympic, the team they just beat, doesn’t seem to bother the players thus far.

Perreira said, “We’re climbing this mountain, and our ultimate goal is the championship at the top, but it’s little steps.” Speer echoed those thoughts by saying, “I think winning two tournaments in a row and beating Linn-Benton in the middle shows that we’re still climbing.”

The Saints play two away matches over the next two days, including Umpqua Friday and Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) on Saturday.  Perreira said of the SWOCC fans, “They always have a rowdy crowd. They do whatever they can to screw you up.”

The Saints will return home next week with another rivalry game against Clackamas on Friday, Nov. 8.