Jesuit back on top of 6A volleyball after outlasting Oregon City in 5-set thriller: ‘We finished our unfinished business’

“We’ve definitely overcome some struggles this season, and we really just pulled through”

Ups, downs. 

Highs, lows, thrills, chills.

Big moments. Clutch plays. A lot of intensity and pressure.

And, not to mention, all sorts of momentum swings. 

This match pretty much had it all.

For the Jesuit volleyball team, it even had one more thing — a state championship.

The Crusaders claimed the crown in exhilarating style, rallying to get a 21-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-13 win over Oregon City in the Class 6A state championship match, played in front of a large, loud crowd Saturday at Forest Grove High School.

“It means a lot,” Jesuit junior Ellie Carroll said with a big smile after the victory. “We’ve definitely overcome some struggles this season, and we really just pulled through. I think our team just wanted it more, honestly.”

“It means so much for us,” Jesuit senior Emma Williams said. “It’s the third year we’ve been in the championship, so to win it means so much to this team.”

With the title-match victory, the Crusaders finished their season with a record of 31-2. They also picked up their eighth state championship under coach Teresa Zimmerlee and their first since 2019. They snapped a two-year streak of losing in the final, as they fell to West Linn in the 2021 title tilt and they lost to Sheldon last year.

“We did it. We finished our unfinished business,” said Jesuit senior Lilly Lansing, who had a team-high 17 kills in Saturday’s championship contest. “That was motivation, from the past two years.” 

Oregon City, coached by Erica Frafjord and playing in its first state championship match, finished its season 23-4.

“It was so amazing,” Oregon City senior middle blocker Brooke Williams said of the Pioneers’ season. “We, as a team, have grown so well together. That’s the best we’ve ever played, hands down. It was the funnest season ever.”

“I think it was really amazing,” said Oregon City junior outside hitter Paige Thies, who had a match-high 26 kills. “We really played together as a team, and we all really came together really well. It was a fun season.”

The Pioneers certainly seemed to have plenty of fun early in Saturday’s title tilt.

The first set saw Oregon City jump out to a 9-5 lead behind a kill by junior Grace Landon followed by two points on serve by Thies, and the Pioneers didn’t give up the lead the rest of the set.

Oregon City got back-to-back kills from senior Brooklyn Wilcox and Thies, both coming off assists by junior Phoebe Hyland, to close out a 25-21 first-set victory.

In the second set, Oregon City, behind strong serving from senior McKenna Brent, senior Brooke Williams and senior Bella Bone, rallied from an early 7-3 deficit to get a 25-22 win, giving the Pioneers a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five championship match.

“Those first two sets, we really wanted it so badly,” Brooke Williams said of Oregon City’s impressive start to the match. “We’ve been preparing for this all year. We wanted it more.”

“Yesterday, when we played Sprague (in the semifinal round), I think the reason we won was because how hyped we were, so we just brought that into today,” Thies said. “The reason we won those two sets was that we were so hyped.”

On the other side of the court, Jesuit was looking at a 2-0 deficit and the possibility of third consecutive title match setback. But the Crusaders were determined not to let that happen.

“It was a rough start, I’m not going to lie. We couldn’t get them on the blocking. They were really strong,” Carroll said. “We just decided to fight back. We just decided that this wasn’t how we were going to go down. We weren’t going to go down without a fight. Our energy picked up, definitely, and we were feeling more confident on the court.”

“It was really tough, but we just decided that it was our last chance, and we really had to fight for it all,” Emma Williams said. “We’re not done yet. We have three more sets, and we’re going to play out, we’re going to play hard.”

“It was a big roller coaster of emotions,” Lansing said. “We decided to show up after the second set. We finally showed them what Jesuit volleyball actually is.”

With all of that in mind, Jesuit came out strong — really strong — in the third set. Back-to-back kills by sophomore Sadie Ross, both coming off assists by Carroll, gave the Crusaders a 21-14 lead. From there, they got kills by Lansing and freshman Alex Douglas, both off assists by junior Addy Azavedo, on their way to wrapping up a 25-19 third-set victory.

It was more of the same in the fourth set. Jesuit grabbed a 19-14 lead on a kill by sophomore Jada Johnson. From there, behind some strong serving by junior Hayden McGehee and kills by Lansing and Carroll, the Crusaders got a 25-18 win, setting up a decisive fifth set to 15 for the state championship.

That’s when the intensity level went up — way up.

“It was intense. Really intense,” Lansing said. “It was good.”

Emma Williams had back-to-back kills to open the fifth set. Lansing and Ross added kills of their own to give Jesuit a quick 5-1 advantage.

Now it was Oregon City’s turn to respond.

The Pioneers, getting kills from senior Olivia Adamo, Thies and Brooke Williams, rallied to take a 10-9 lead.

But Jesuit, and Carroll, answered.

Carroll shared a block with Emma Williams and then had back-to-back kills to give Jesuit a 14-10 lead.

“It was very intense, but our setter, Hayden (McGehee), got those serves to me, and I got the kills,” Carroll said. “It’s just a battle between you and the girl on the other side of the net, and I decided that I wasn’t going to let her get the best of me.”

“She did an incredible job at the net all game, but those points she got for us really gave us some momentum,” Emma Williams said.

Still, Oregon City wasn’t about to give up. A kill and a block by Brooke Williams helped the Pioneers trim the deficit to 14-13.

But the next Oregon City serve sailed just inches over the back line, giving Jesuit a 15-13 fifth-set win — and the state championship.

“I was just filled with an ecstatic feeling,” Carroll said of the final point. “And then my teammates came over and rushed by me, and it was just indescribable.”

“I was in shock a little bit,” Lansing said. “I started crying — tears of joy. It was just a surreal experience.”

“It was incredible. I couldn’t believe it,” Emma Williams said. “I was just so over the moon and so overwhelmed with this emotion that we did it.”

Lansing had eight digs and assisted on three blocks in addition to having her team-high 17 kills.

“This was a lot of fun,” she said. “I’m really glad we pulled it out, especially after the last two years.”

Ross had 15 kills for the Crusaders, and Emma Williams added 14. Carroll had four kills and 12 assists, and she was in on six blocks. Sophomore Sloan Hefeneider led the team with 21 assists, and McGehee had 13 to go with 12 digs. Azavedo led the Crusaders with 14 digs.

And it all was topped off when the Jesuit players were handed the state championship trophy.

“That was just amazing. The whole student body was there. The ‘Sader Nation was there with us. It was a feeling of community, for sure. It was awesome,” Carroll said. “It was really fun. It was a great way to end our season. I know our seniors really wanted this, and we wanted it for them. It was a great ending.”

“That was so cool,” Emma Williams said. “I’m so excited to sign the bracket and put it up on our wall. I’ll be in the halls of Jesuit forever, and that’s pretty cool.”

For Oregon City, Thies had 12 digs to go with her match-high 26 kills.

“It was just so surreal to even be on the court, playing in this match,” she said. “It was so amazing. I think we just really fought. We came back with a bunch of energy, but they were just able to pull it out in the end.”

Adamo added 10 kills. Brooke Williams had eight kills, four aces and two digs. Hyland led the team with 27 assists. Senior Bella Bone had 24 to go with three aces. Junior Emma Comer had a team-best 14 digs.

“That was the most fun that I’ve ever had,” Brooke Williams said. “That was the most intense match of my life, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”