EPHRATA — Ephrata volleyball picked up the 3-0 sweep against rival Quincy and visiting Cascade in the season-opening double header at Marty O’Brien Court at Ephrata High School on Saturday.

The Tigers started in the morning against Cascade, taking the match in three sets, 25-15, 25-12 and 25-8. Paige Heston led the Tigers with seven kills. Halee Moore led the way with 11 digs, while Nayelie Alvarez finished with four service aces.

Ephrata faced off against rival Quincy Saturday evening in the final matchup of the day. The first set went back and forth early on. Knotted up at 12-12, the Tigers made a run, forcing the Jacks to call two timeouts within a short span before taking the opening set 25-17.

The Tigers jumped ahead early in the second set, leading 7-1 before a quick spurt from the Jacks cut the margin to two. Ephrata pulled away again, taking a double-digit lead midway through the set before taking a 2-0 advantage with the 25-12 win.

Another early big lead for the Tigers kept any comeback hopes at bay for the Jacks in the third set as Ephrata held on to win the final set 25-11 and kick off the season at 2-0.

Halee Moore finished with 10 digs against Quincy, while Hayden Mills led the team with 14 kills. Freshman Addison Mills led with six blocks up front.

Interim Ephrata head coach Hailey Miller said she was a little nervous heading into the opening doubleheader, but feels more confident after starting with a pair of sweeps.

“The girls really helped me out, it’s not just me,” Miller said.

Miller said the Tigers had some freshmen step up, including middle Addison Mills. She said her inside freshman has performed well, stepping into the middle of the court.


Lindsay Addink finished with 98 total assists between the two matches on Saturday.

“She’s running our offense really well; she knows how to take care of her hitters,” Miller said.

Moving toward the next match, Miller said the focus in practice will be on fine-tuning blocking up front.

“We’ve got a freshman middle,” Miller said. “She’s got a lot to learn, but she’s doing a great job.”

Junior Hayden Mills said she was thankful to be playing again no matter the result.

Mills said things seemed to be coming together well for the Tigers even in their first weekend back on the court.

“We’re all starting to mesh even in the first weekend,” Mills said. “I think it’s working out really well for us and I’m really excited for this season.”

Quincy picked up the 3-1 win against Cascade in its first match of the day in Ephrata. After falling 25-20 in their opening set, the Jacks went on to win the following three to take the match 3-1.

Reese Nieuwehuis led the Jacks with 11 kills, while Kelly Mills finished right behind her with 10. Mills added seven aces in the win against Cascade.

Quincy head coach Dean Pratt said the team looked a lot stronger against Cascade than they did against Ephrata.

“Ephrata’s a talented team; they’re a good team,” Pratt said. “Their talent level showed through.”

Pratt said he has a lot of inexperience with his team and is working on fixing some things this season. He said he’s hoping to have some of those things worked out after a few weeks of practice.


With the way volleyball doubleheaders are set up for the NCW Region this year, Pratt said it can be tough for visiting teams playing back-to-back matches. He said the Jacks won’t head back to their home gym until about midway through the season.

“We don’t get a home match until the 20th, so the second half of our season will be better than the first half probably,” Pratt said. “If we get through the first half at .500, I’ll be happy.”

Pratt said they’ll work on the process of “retraining” after losing a few key starters from last year’s team. But he said he was happy to see his team fight Saturday, especially clawing their way back against Cascade. The Jacks move to 1-1 for the year.