QuickTake:

After a quarterfinal scare, Marist rallied to win the state 4A volleyball tournament. In the 6A ranks, both Sheldon and South Eugene placed at the state tourney.

The biggest bump in the road to a state championship for the Marist Catholic Spartans volleyball team came in the quarterfinals of the 4A tournament Friday, Nov. 7, at Marshfield High School.

In that match, Marist, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, took on No. 8 Astoria. 

And the first two sets went about as expected, with the Spartans claiming 25-12 and 25-7 victories. 

Then something unusual happened: The Fishermen stunned the Spartans in the third set, winning 27-25. Then something else unusual happened: Astoria won the fourth set, 25-21, to force a fifth and deciding set. It was only the 10th and 11th times this season the Spartans had lost a set — and only the third time this season that the team had lost two sets in a single match.

Those also were the last sets the Spartans would lose this season.

Marist rallied to claim the fifth and deciding set against Astoria and then beat No. 4 Cascade in straight sets (25-20, 25-15 and 25-23) in the semifinals later Friday. In Saturday’s championship match against No. 7 The Dalles, the Spartans rolled off another three-set victory (25-15, 25-10 and 25-20) to claim the 4A state title. 

Marist finished with a 25-1 overall record.

Two Spartans — juniors Lauren Rohman and Kimberly Spurlock — were named to the all-tournament first team. Senior Kegan De Lee earned a spot on the second team. 

6A

In the 6A tournament, held Nov. 7-8 at Forest Grove High School, Sheldon finished fifth and South Eugene finished sixth.

The Irish opened the tournament by rallying for a 3-1 quarterfinal win (21-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-10) over Nelson but then fell in four sets to Sprague in the semifinals (19-25, 15-25, 25-14, 21-25). 

In the tournament’s game to determine the third- and fifth-place finishers, Sheldon lost in five sets to South Salem (22-25, 25-22, 18-25, 27-25 and 7-15) to finish fifth.

Three Sheldon players — senior Yana Tuioti and juniors Savannah McKibben and Addy Zauner — were named to the all-tournament second team.

Sheldon finished the season with a 28-6 record.

South Eugene lost its quarterfinal match against South Salem in four sets (18-25, 25-17, 13-25, 21-25) to drop into the consolation bracket. The Axe girls rallied in Saturday’s action for a straight-set victory (25-13, 25-19, 25-21) over Oregon City to advance to the fourth- and sixth- place game against Nelson. But Nelson prevailed in straight sets (14-25, 20-25 and 15-25), so South Eugene finished in sixth place.

South Eugene ended its season with a 23-5 record. 

Portland’s Jesuit won the 6A state title. 

Mike McInally is a Pacific Northwest journalist with four decades of experience in Oregon and Montana, including stints as editor of the Corvallis Gazette-Times and the Albany Democrat-Herald.