South Salem girls volleyball has proven to be a consistent powerhouse, and this spring, the boys are following suit.
The Saxons have moved to No. 1 in the OSAA rankings for the 6A/5A classification in the sport’s first sanctioned season under the OSAA with an 18-1 overall record and a perfect 15-0 mark in Special District 3 competition.
Head coach Matt Leichty, who also coaches the girls team in the fall, has been impressed with the boys’ ability to rise to the occasion each time out despite having the big target on their back as one of the highest rated squads.
“I would really say that I’ve been happy in a lot of big moments. Our guys have stepped up and really competed,” Leichty said. “The guys we look to when the pressure is on have really been in positions to step up and have done that.”
As far as sets, South Salem is 51-6 on the year and the only actual loss came in the championship of their home tournament against Central Catholic in a 2-0 best of three loss.
Before that game, the Saxons had to take out possibly the third best team in the classification in Summit in the semifinals, which they grinded out a 2-1 win.
Since the loss to the Rams, South Salem has won 11 matches in a row and only dropped two sets during the streak, one to McKay and one to Sprague.
“For one, I was super happy with the teams we were able to get (for the home tournament),” Leichty said. “I think for all the teams there, it was a really good opportunity to test ourselves. Summit is a great team, that was a battle to pull that one out.”
Leading the way for the Saxons is senior Logan Scott, who is listed as an outside hitter but is someone Leichty praised as the best defender the coach has seen in the state.
Scott played libero for the Saxons the last few years and moved to OH to help get a little more offense, and he’s become an all-around talent that is a nightmare for teams to try and defend and score on.
“The guy serve-receives well, he makes some plays where it’s like, ‘I don’t even know how you got to that, let alone saw it and made it look kind of easy,’” Leichty said. “We moved him to the outside looking for some offense and a good challenge for him too. He’s done a great job hitting there as well.”
That versatility is reflected in the whole roster as Scott’s fellow outside in junior Tim Ganchenko has been a consistent threat as well to give the Saxons’ offense some options.
Up the middle it’s been junior Harrison Wilson holding down the fort while senior Cameron King-Widdall has been an important right side. Senior Eddie Hernandez has rotated between libero and right side depending on the situation.
For all of them, they’ve passed the ball well and have made sure to be options at all times to prepare for when that depth will be tested come state tournament time.
“For our guys, I feel like one of the things that’s helped us a ton is just our passing has been really, really good,” Leichty said. “That makes it so much easier to be able to have options and opportunities.
“Our big emphasis over the last several weeks has been we got to get some more out of some other guys because people are gonna load up on us. We’re going to need to have a lot of options when it comes down to those final matches.”
Speaking of passing, senior Connor Wolfgram is the primary setter for the Saxons running a 5-1 offense this season and last year.
Getting different guys touches often comes down to where the setter sends the ball, and Leichty has been impressed with Wolfgram’s understanding of the game.
“A lot of times you don’t think about him too much because he’s just solid and does his job,” Leichty said. “He’s got a great serve too, he’s really led us a lot with serving. Brings some good leadership as well, pretty high IQ as far as he understands the game pretty well.”
South Salem has one game left on the schedule, set for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14 at home against Silverton.
The Saxons are locked into the top four of SD3, so they’ll be in the state tournament no matter the outcome with the Foxes.
Once in the 14-team field, South Salem knows it’ll be on the short list of title favorites when the first round begins May 20.
The semifinals move to the final site at West Salem High School on May 29, followed by the title game on May 30.
The Saxons certainly hope to be the ones raising the first official blue trophy in the sport’s Oregon history, and it’ll take an all-around effort to do it.
“Just trying to continue to expand what we do, make it as difficult as we can for people to be able to key in on us,” Leichty said of what he wants to see in the final few weeks. “Hopefully be able to give all these teams that saw us a month ago something different to think about when we see them the next time.”
Final bracketology
With the rankings set to freeze Saturday, May 16 for both 6A/5A and 4A/3A/2A/1A, we take one last look at where the state tournament fields currently stand.
There are no at-large teams, so squads will need to finish in their respective top three, four or five to make the postseason bracket.
Here’s a look at where they all stand through games played on May 12.
6A
Automatic qualifiers
Special District 1 (4): Central Catholic, La Salle Prep, Reynolds, David Douglas
Special District 2 (3): Sherwood, Century, Liberty
Special District 3 (4): South Salem, Silverton, McKay, Sprague
Special District 4 (3): Summit, Crook County, Grants Pass
The bracket
No. 1 South Salem, bye
No. 9 McKay at No. 8 Century
No. 12 Sprague at No. 5 Sherwood
No. 14 David Douglas at No. 4 Silverton
No. 13 Liberty at No. 3 Summit
No. 11 Reynolds at No. 6 Crook County
No. 10 Grants Pass at No. 7 La Salle Prep
No. 2 Central Catholic, bye
- Swapped Reynolds and Grants Pass to avoid Reynolds-La Salle and Grants Pass-Crook County league matchups
4A/3A/2A/1A
Automatic qualifiers
SD1 (3): Portland Adventist, Estacada, Central Christian
SD2 (3): Westside Christian, Horizon Christian (Tualatin), Yamhill-Carlton
SD3 (3): Cascade, Crosshill Christian, Willamette Valley Christian
SD4 (5): Junction City, North Bend, Creswell/Pleasant Hill, Phoenix, Cottage Grove
The bracket
No. 1 Westside Christian, bye
No. 9 North Bend at No. 8 Estacada
No. 12 Phoenix at No. 5 Crosshill Christian
No. 14 Horizon Christian, Tualatin at No. 4 Junction City
No. 13 Cottage Grove at No. 3 Portland Adventist
No. 11 Yamhill-Carlton at No. 6 Central Christian
No. 10 Creswell/Pleasant Hill at No. 7 Willamette Valley Christian
No. 2 Cascade, bye
austinw@osaa.org
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