FALL VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW
Spencer is working to put the program on the map
By ANNIE FOWLER, CUJ Special Contributor
MISSION — Nixyáawii Community School has been a basketball mecca since it opened its doors in 2004.
Rayne Spencer is hoping to carve out a little piece of the fanbase for her volleyball team.
“Volleyball is still very new to our community,” Spencer said. “We have a lot of basketball players out here. Most of the girls played summer basketball. It’s just a little bit different, but we are trying to get them to enjoy it. I have a lot of hope for this program. Hoping to bring in multi-sport athletes and develop them as players. When you play more than one sport, it challenges you to grow as an athlete. Learning to be a teammate, communicate and be a student athlete.”
The Golden Eagles are a young team this season with sophomore Annalise Watchman, and juniors Neveah Moore and Shaundein Salt returning from last season. Sophomore Devon Hall-Spencer was injured last year, but is back on the court this fall.
Junior Liana Stewart played last season, but chose to run cross country this year.
“We are kind of starting fresh right now,” Spencer said. “We have a lot of really young talent coming up. It’s nice to see their faces again. We are continuing to build their fundamentals and hopefully we will see some good volleyball games this year.”
The Golden Eagles are a little short on numbers this season and won’t be able to field a junior varsity team.
“We have smaller numbers this year, but we are going to make the best of what we have and continue to grow our program,” Spencer said. “It takes a few years to grow a program. We are working on the buy-in of the girls and working hard.”
Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center has been working with the school, holding an open gym for co-ed play on Sundays to try and grow the sport in the community.
“Hopefully we can develop some love for the game,” Spencer said. “Jay Stanley was a big part of that. Jay is going to continue the open gyms through October on Sundays so people can come out and play and have fun.”
The Golden Eagles, who play in the Old Oregon League, finished 0-10 in league play last year, and 2-13 overall. They lost three key seniors to graduation.
“We played some pretty solid teams last year and that is very eye opening, but also motivating,” Spencer said. “We have to be patient with our progress. Those girls didn’t get to that point with one day’s work, but months and years. The girls are using that in practice. We can get there.”
Nixyáawii will open its season Aug. 29 at the Umatilla/Morrow County Jamboree at Pendleton High School. The event will have teams from Pendleton, Irrigon, Pilot Rock, Umatilla, Heppner, Riverside, Stanfield and Ione/Arlington. “I’m pretty excited to start off in our community and see the level of competition in our area,” Spencer said. “It will be fun to see the different strategies and how you can play the game.”
Nixyaawii volleyball schedule
- Aug. 29 Nixyáawii at Umatilla/Morrow County Jamboree, Pendleton 4:30 p.m.
- Sept. 5 Bickleton at Nixyaawii 5 p.m.
- Sept. 10 Nixyáawii at Griswold 5 p.m.
- Sept. 17 Pilot Rock at Nixyaawii 4 p.m.
- Sept. 21 Nixyáawii at Wallowa 1 p.m.
- Oct. 1 Griswold at Nixyaawii 5 p.m.
- Oct. 3 Nixyáawii at Echo 5 p.m.
- Oct. 5 Nixyáawii at Cove 10 a.m.
- Oct. 5 Nixyáawii at Imbler 1 p.m.
- Oct. 8 Echo at Nixyáawii 5 p.m.
- Oct. 11 Nixyáawii at Pilot Rock 4 p.m.
- Oct. 19 Cove at Nixyáawii 10 a.m.
- Oct. 19 Imbler at Nixyáawii 1 p.m.
