Saints stretch streak to 13 matches

The surging, first-place Mt. Hood volleyball team ran its win streak to 13 matches, dominating Linn-Benton in a three-game sweep Wednesday night in the Saints’ first “Go Pink or Go Home” home match of the season.

The Saints swept the second-place Road Runners (26-24, 25-20, 25-19), making it 15 wins in their last 16 matches overall.

In the process, they replicated their three-game victory over Linn-Benton in Albany on Oct. 4. Mt. Hood’s coach and key players expected a tough fight in the rematch.

“Our mentality is that every team is going to play their best against us. We have a huge target on our backs,” said sophomore outside hitter Lihau Perreira.

The first two games were closely fought. Then, MHCC head coach Chelsie Speer urged her team to focus on playing to its own ability, so that the positive results would follow.

The Saints came out in the third set and immediately set the tone, improving on offense and defense to complete the sweep.

Today, the Saints will host the annual Dorian Harris Classic Halloween Tournament in the MHCC gym.

Mt. Hood players and players and coaches will be dressed in “Jazzercise” costume this year and will begin play at 2 p.m. against Wenatchee Valley. The night match will feature Mt. Hood vs. Whatcom.

Speer said of the team’s development over the season, “This is the most improved team I’ve ever coached. Now I feel like there’s a sense of belief that anything can happen.”

The Saints had extended their streak at last weekend’s matches, winning the Green River Crossover Tournament by defeating Spokane twice, the championship game included.

Rachel Woodcock and Shawna Smith earned recognition for South Region players of the week while Xayna Robinson made the all-tournament team. Perreira won the tournament’s MVP award.

It was MHCC’s first tournament title this year and the Saints knew their toughest challenge was Spokane. The outcome in the championship match, a five-set thriller (26-24, 23-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-11), was a big boost.

Perreira said, “We felt really good (going in) but knew they were going to put up a fight… Whenever you play someone outside your region it’s a big deal.”

Riding their winning run, the Saints have built up confidence.

“This tournament was a change in how we played as a team,” said Robinson. “Once it came to (facing) Spokane we played with a competitive edge.”

Smith added, “We came out mentally tough, we were really resilient.”

On Day One of the Green River tournament, the Saints defeated Everett, Lower Columbia, and Spokane. Day Two saw MHCC quickly sweep Big Bend and Shoreline and culminated in the see-saw final eventually won by the Saints.

“I firmly believe you need matches like that. It’s good to have that experience throughout the season,” said Speer.