Billies win hard-fought match with Vikings
The Pleasant Hill Billies badly needed something to lift their spirits, and they got it Thursday night, in the form of a hard-fought volleyball victory over the Siuslaw Vikings.
Every game was a pitched battle as the Billies rallied for a 24-26, 25-22, 25-23, 28-26 triumph at Glenn Butler Court.
The Billies played with great heart. They also played with heavy hearts, less than 48 hours after classmate and Pleasant Hill football player Jordan Jeffs died in a late-night car crash. Jeffs was 17.
"It's been a rough couple of days, and I wasn't sure what was going to happen tonight," first-year Billies coach Braidy Ross said. "They came out and gave it everything.
"Definitely, the emotions came in and out during the game, but they worked together, they communicated. They fought hard, and they took home the win."
As fate would have it, the Billies and the Vikings will meet on the football field Friday night in a nonleague game at Pleasant Hill.
Jeffs, a well-liked junior, was a defensive back and wide receiver for the Billies.
"Before the game, there'll be a balloon release to honor him," Ross said. "They're making over 800 shirts for the community to wear at the game. And they will pass around candles afterward, and have a moment of silence."
If the football game is anything like the volleyball match, it should be a real tribute to Jeffs.
"Our girls wanted it, the win (over Siuslaw), far more than anything I've seen this season," Ross said. "They were really focused.
"Our setter, No. 1 (junior Sophia Casarez), played with a lot of heart. She was in the same class as the boy who passed away, and she took it really hard. She worked her butt off tonight."
The two teams battled hard for each point, and they still might be playing had the Billies not twice fought off game point in the fourth set.
"A few bounces did go our way," Ross said. "Our motto is to play good, fundamental volleyball, and we'll be successful."
The Billies have only seven players on their varsity, the seventh player a situational back-row setter. The Vikings countered with their full 12-player arsenal, still trying to find the right chemistry as league play looms.
"Siuslaw is impressive," Ross said. "They are big and they are going to cause a lot of people a lot of problems.
"We struggled to get around them all night. We tried to go through them, but that doesn't work. They were very impressive, and their defense was great. Teams that are scrappy like Siuslaw are really hard to play, because they rally so much."
Still, it was the Billies who were celebrating at the end Thursday night.
"I think the tragedy will bring these girls together, a lot," Ross said. "I think it's going to bring the school together, even more than it already is.
"Our girls were hugging each other, talking to each other, reaching out to each other. It's going to make our program stronger."
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