They’ll be bigger, deeper, stronger, more athletic

and more experienced and they already won the Columbia River

Conference title a year ago.

Predicting a CRC title for last season’s Hermiston

High School volleyball team in this column wasn’t going too far out

on a limb. The Bulldogs have always been athletic with their

current nucleus of juniors and seniors. 

They entered last season with more past success than

either The Dalles-Wahtonka or Hood River Valley. 

They had way more varsity experience than Pendleton a

year ago because the Bucks roster was emptied by graduation. 

That was last season. 

There is more returning experience and success this

year in the CRC across the board. It seems like the Eagles, Bucks

and Eagle-Indians are all poised to be tougher and now everybody

will understand the grind of the conference schedule. Everybody

else improving doesn’t mean the expectations are any different for

the Hermiston girls in 2011. 

I thought the Bulldogs would win the 2010 CRC crown

because they are a collection of tremendous athletes who get the

most out of their talent because of a fierce competitive spirit. I

thought the fact the Class of 2012 nucleus of Crystal Schmidt,

Maloree Moss and Gracie Flyg had gone through one season of the IMC

gauntlet the previous year would give them experience that trumped

the fact their technical volleyball knowledge was still

developing. 

The difference in 2011 is they are even more athletic

and competitive.  The additions of Jeni Hoffert and Courtney Howard

add to that athleticism and winning attitude they’ve just been

doing it in different sports. Everybody else held over from a

program that only graduated two has another year and a successful

one under their belts.

We should be confident, we are better than last

year, Schmidt said. We are better players and have added more

athletic players.

The limb seems even stronger in predicting a second

consecutive Bulldog conference title. Sometimes a team will set a

conference title or a trip to a state tournament as its goal, but

will keep that behind doors. The team isn’t afraid to have big

goals and be open about it. 

Our goal is to win another CRC championship, make it

past the playoffs and go to state and hopefully place at state,

said Schmidt, the defending CRC player of the year. 

After a couple seasons as a volunteer assistant

coach, Becky Wadekamper takes the reins of the HHS volleyball

program and understands the Bulldogs success from last season helps

lay the foundation to have high expectations. 

We have the bulk of our starting players back and

additional athleticism. We should be able to defend our title,

Wadekamper said. 

At the same time the team understands they dont win

a CRC title just by showing up at the gym. We are going to have to

earn it, its not going to be handed to us, said Moss, a four-year

letter-winner who has the most varsity experience on the team. 

Schmidt, Flyg and Moss all agreed that the other

three teams in the CRC would probably be circling the four matches

with Hermiston on the calendar. 

I dont think any of the schools really like us,

Moss said. Its fun it makes it challenging and we know they are

going to play their hardest every time they play us because they

want to beat us.

There is no such thing as a sure thing in sports. The

team will need to stay healthy and they need to carry the

confidence they have right now all through the season. They earned

that confidence with a great season in 2010 and I see no reason

they cant build on that success in 2011, earn another conference

crown and take that next step on the checklist of goals and make it

to the state tournament. 

Erick is the news and sports director at

KOHU/KQFM. He is also the play-by-play voice of Hermiston High

School athletics. Complain to him at eolson@eotnet.net.