Regis Volleyball History

By Carli Stelljes

There have been lots of successful athletic groups at Regis over the years, and the 2001 volleyball team was no exception. The girls were very hardworking and worked well with each other and their coach.

During this year there were three volleyball groups JV, JV I, and Varsity. The JV teams were made up of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Their coaches were Elaine Blish and Jill Leuhring. They had a great season and all had fun. The Varsity coach was Steve Heli, and while he coached an amazing year, this was his last year coaching at Regis. The team was made up of thirteen girls. Katie Duman, Mandy Mooers, Cassie Brand, Sarah Brentano, Kim Tower, Sarah Purdy, Jennifer Spotts, Katie Foster, Heather Wolf, and Jennifer Keudell the seniors, and Britnee Kintz and Karen Lulay the two juniors.

 This volleyball squad had a very successful season with 16 wins and 2 losses out of 18 games. Their only losses were at Kennedy and Amity. They played multiple schools twice, like Santiam and Scio, and they even played against Jefferson 3 times and won all the games. They had also played against Gervais, Salem Academy, Colton, Chemawa, Portland Christian, Monroe, ELCA, and Sherman, where they had also won these too. Throughout these games, they had some really good performances, especially at the Santiam game where they set up and hit some really hard spikes. Overall they had a great season. 

This volleyball squad not only made it to state, but was the first Regis team to make it to the championship game. They had done very well, placing second. They won the first set but unfortunately lost the second two to Amity. Not only did the group place second but they received some awards. Kim Tower was Player of the Year, Heather Wolf was First Team All-State and Cassie Brand was 2nd Team All-State. In addition to these, Kim Tower received 1st Team All Tournament and Heather Wolf received 2nd Team All Tournament. Mr. Heli also got an award, the Tri River Conference Coach of the year. According to Jennifer Keudell, “Being in the championship game was an awesome experience and our team was really unified.” This was a very good year for the Regis volleyball girls. 

This was a team that brought Regis’s ranking to the next level. All thirteen of these girls were athletic and had great teamwork. According to Elaine Blish, “Mr. Heli worked so hard to make the volleyball program grow and become a very strong program. This was an amazing team, very deep and all of them loved the sport.” Not only did they play and work hard at this sport, but they also had sportsmanship and school spirit. After every match, they would sing the school song. After a phenomenal season, they topped it off by winning second in state. This is a group that is sure to be remembered and stand out in Regis history.