Saints volleyball begins 2011 season with a mission

The Saints volleyball team is showing a sense of urgency in early season action with the pangs of falling just short of the NWAACC title for the second consecutive year lingering in their minds.
“Coming so close, to fall short . . . it was just one of those things. We made a few more mistakes and it just wasn’t meant to be,” said head coach and 2010 Southern Coach of the Year Chelsea Speer. But she says she is seeing a lot of early promise in her roster this season. “I’m confident in this team’s ability to get it done. We definitely have the talent,” said Speer.
The Saints held the number one seed in the Southern Region with a 1-0 record and an 11-1 record overall going into their Sept. 23 home match against Southwest Oregon CC (results unavailable at press time). The Saints defeated five teams at the Walla Walla Crossover Tournament Sept. 16-17, including last year’s NWAACC champions the Blue Mountain Timberwolves (4-0, 16-4 overall), en route of a 5-0 first place finish.
That momentum carried into their first league match against the Chemeketa Storm Sept. 21, with the Saints sweeping the Storm in three straight games (25-11, 26-24, 25-20). The program is relying on its veterans to lead the team with five of the six sophomores on the team being returners. Returners include middle blocker Demi Belshe, Natalie Dwight, Rylie Engelson, Saasha Jacobson, Kaitlyn Maddams and Devan Belshe, who sat out against Chemeketa because of an injury.
Joining the team are seven true freshmen — Kelsey Merritt, Samantha Bryan, Kylie Kitzmiller, Anna Vieru, Maycee Abendschein, Alyssa Hall, Casi Johnson and red-shirt freshman Kaycie Kitzmiller.
Next up for the Saints on Wednesday at 6 p.m at Mt. Hood are the Linn-Benton Roadrunners, who handed the Saints their sole loss of this season, beating them Sept. 10 in three straight games (25-19, 25-19, 25-22). Speer said they will be tough competition again. “In my mind, they are the team to beat this year in the entire NWAACCs. They are very talented,” she said.