3A/2A Volleyball: All-League honors and playoff brackets

Saturday, Oct. 25 was a good day to be a Pirate, as the No. 5-Dayton volleyball team (19-4, 16-0) exercised previous woes from a league title game loss in 2024, defeating No. 19 Salem Academy in three sets (25-22, 25-23, 25-16) to be crowned 2025 PacWest Conference Champions.

The Pirates went undefeated in league play under first-year head coach Sam Alexander and finished with five All-League honors.

Senior middle blocker Katie Freeborn earned an All-League honorable mention. Junior setter Maddie Miguez and freshman defensive specialist and right-side hitter Kadence Fuller came away with All-League Second-Team status, and sophomore outside hitter Gabby Chupp and sophomore middle blocker Kalysta Summerlin earned All-League First-Team honors.

Taft head coach Boone Marker was named Special District 2 Coach of the Year after leading the Tigers to 16-10, 10-6 record. Salem Academy sophomore Jordyn Copeland earned Player of the Year honors.

After their victory, Alexander spoke to the pressure felt when she took over. As the season progressed, comfort grew while previous coaches and Alexander’s current assistant helped her realize the overall vision for the program. There was support all around but getting buy-in from the players and seeing them develop over three months brought Alexander the most joy after winning their league.

“They’re a very competitive group of girls, and the frustration can show really quickly. So, we’ve had to work around adversity and ask, ‘How do we lean into each other and make each other better?’” Alexander posed. “They’ve done a better job of that over the last couple of weeks than they did at the beginning of the season, have played super well together and minimized the individuality of it.”

The Pirates begin State Championship tournament play on Saturday, Nov. 1, with a home match against No. 12 Santiam Christian at 3 p.m. Dayton defeated Santiam Christian twice this season, both in five sets, and expects every opponent to come out swinging as they chase postseason glory.

Amity

The Warriors finished the season ranked No. 29 with a record of 8-11, 6-10. Under first-year head coach Brooke Lopez — an Amity alumnus — a young Warriors squad missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018 but had a season’s worth of progress result in three victories to end the year.

Amity defeated No. 33 Oregon Episcopal in three sets (25-15, 25-20, 25-6) on Oct. 16, followed by a four-set win over No. 42 Jefferson (22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-12) on Oct. 20. Finally, the Warriors beat No. 37 Scio in three sets (25-17, 25-23, 25-19) on Wednesday, Oct. 22 to close the season.

Four seniors will graduate from the Warriors’ ranks, but underclassmen such as sophomore middle blocker and setter Ashlynn Nisly, sophomore outside hitter and setter Olivia Watcherson and sophomore outside hitter Jemma Criswell are expected to make a major difference in the Warrior’s rotations next season.

Nisly earned Second-Team All-League honors, while senior right-side hitter Savanah Brown was given an honorable mention nod.

Delphian (2A)

The Dragons are league champions for the first time since 2013. They finished the season ranked No. 4 in 2A with a record of 18-4, 13-1; but more prominently, they placed No. 1 in the Tri-River Conference with a four-set victory over No. 9 Santiam (25-14, 21-25, 25-18, 25-16) on Tuesday.

Delphian will host No. 17 Faith Bible/Life Christian on Saturday as the No. 4 seed.

The Dragons earned five All-League honors, including senior captain Liv Curry winning Tri-River Player of the Year. Senior Amelie Rappoport was given an honorable mention. Sophomore Liana Vannier earned All-League Second Team, while Curry, fellow senior captain Amelia Peterson and junior Mila Vysotska were given First-Team honors.

Yamhill Carlton

The No. 32-ranked Tigers (8-14, 5-7) fought hard but could not make a return to the playoffs this season, finishing sixth in the 3A Coastal Range League.

Head coach Jess McGraw was proud of her players’ effort through difficult matches and rough moments in what she called a rebuilding year.

“Years like this are challenging but rewarding.” McGraw said. “There was a lot of opportunity for growth, for players to step up and try new things, for the team to come together; and we had a lot of those empowering moments.”

Defeating No. 34 Neah-Kah-Nie in five sets after being down 2-0 and beating No. 21 Corbett with aggressive play were games that represented the best of what YC volleyball showed they could accomplish in 2025.

“This season helped our players gain confidence in the fact that they can do hard things if they keep at it. That’s an important lesson,” McGraw said emphatically.

The Tigers will graduate four seniors (Kaylee Spaulding, Chassidy Her, Peyton Gregor and Kerissa Hinton), all whom impressed McGraw and were selfless teammates.

Leading the Tigers’ All-League selections was Spaulding with a First-Team nomination. Junior outside hitter Kelsie King received Second-Team honors, while Gregor and junior middle blocker Lilah Stahl were honorable mentions.

Willamina

The Bulldogs ended their year ranked No. 43 in 3A with a record of 2-17, 2-14.

Despite an underperforming year, the Bulldogs played skillfully and earned two All-League honorable mentions with junior Rylee Bishop and senior Violeta Gonzalez.

Sheridan (2A)

The Spartans showed progress over the season but fell short of a league playoff spot with a record of 5-14, 4-10, and ranked No. 29 in 2A.

Seniors Payton Pownall and Alondra Casillas were awarded All-League Honors, Pownall as an honorable mention and Casillas with Second-Team status after being one of two Sheridan team captains.

Sheridan graduates five seniors and hopes to see the best out of junior captain Hayden Gram, who will lead the class of 2027.