Rose City Roundup: Benson volleyball back in the win column; Central Catholic boys soccer on win streak
We’re back with another addition of the Rose City Roundup, aiming to wrap up some of the storylines that slipped through the cracks during the week.
There were some big-time football matchups, an even bigger girls volleyball showdown in 2A and some soccer teams keeping their foot on the gas.
You can check out all the stories Portland Preps documented this week down below, and check out some of the other news headlines below that.
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Stories from last week
Football roundup: Friday Night Lights: McDaniel football picks up PIL win over Jefferson
Roosevelt football takes down Ida B. Wells behind inspired defensive effort
Lincoln girls volleyball ready to contend for PIL crown and more
David Douglas girls soccer finding success in a new way for 2025
'Burners' lifting Jefferson football into PIL contention for 2025 and beyond
Portland Christian volleyball goes five
2A No. 2 Portland Christian took its 9-0 record south to take on No. 1 Crosshill Christian (12-0) in a matchup of 2A’s best two teams.
The Royals took the first set 25-19, but the Eagles won the next two 25-13 and 25-23. Still, PC battled and won the fourth set 27-25 to force the deciding fifth. Crosshill took it 15-5 to win the match.
While the Royals came out the matchup with a loss, it certainly was a measuring stick to see where the group stands. And going five sets with the state title favorite is surely a sign this could be the state championship match come November.
Up next for the Royals is another tough match against Northwest League foe Clatskanie, who is 11-1 overall and 7-0 in league play. The match is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30 at Clatskanie.
Benson volleyball back in the win column
The last time Benson won a volleyball match, you’d have to turn back to Oct. 9, 2019 when it defeated Jefferson in three sets.
After 87 consecutive losses, the Astros got off the streak with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-14) win over Willamette on Sept. 25 at home.
The win comes on the verge of PIL play with Benson set to take on McDaniel at a time TBD Sept. 30 in the Mountain Lions’ home gym.
St. Mary’s girls soccer improving
The Blues produced a 2-0 week to move up to 5-1-1 on the season, the lone loss coming to No. 1-ranked Beaverton.
SMA took out Newberg 3-0 on Sept. 23 then went on the road to beat Cleveland 3-2 on Sept. 25.
After making it to the second round of state the past two years and graduating quite a few seniors, the Blues record is validation for the growing talent within the program.
SMA will try to keep the new win streak rolling with one final nonleague test, and it’s a big one against 5-0 David Douglas. The match is set for 6:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2 at Buckman Field.
Central Catholic boys soccer staying hot
After dropping the season-opening match to Jesuit, the Rams haven’t lost by firing off five consecutive wins to improve to 5-1.
This week, there were wins over solid 5A programs in Crescent Valley (2-1) and Woodburn (5-1) with the two goals allowed being the only two given up on the five-match win streak.
Up next is one final nonleague test against Liberty before kicking off Mt. Hood Conference play against Barlow. The match with Liberty is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1 and the match with the Bruins is 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6 at Barlow.
Cross country results
Most local squads took the week off despite the Nike Portland XC meet taking place Sept. 27 at Blue Lake Regional Park.
Cleveland and St. Mary’s Academy sent runners to the meet to compete in the Division 1 races.
On the girls side, the Blues took 13th as a team with sophomore Titi Paternoster crossing first for them in a time of 20 minutes, 17.9 seconds.
For Cleveland, the Warriors took 20th and were led by senior Lucille Moenning in 59th with a PR time of 20:23.7.
On the boys side, Cleveland didn’t score as a team, but senior Grant Breger took 10th in the individual race with a time of 15:54.6.
Columbia Christian also competed at the event in the Division 3 level. The girls took 18th as a team and were led by junior Eva Salmon in 94th with a season-best time of 23:52.5.
The Knights didn’t score on the boys side, but junior Abram Votrobeck ran a season-best time of 17:43.7 to take seventh place in the race.
There were some more one-offs from around Portland, like Parkrose’s Diana Dobre taking 16th in the girls Division 3 race with a time of 21:06.4. Elijah Portwood led the way on the boys side for the Broncos with a 35th place finish in Division 3 in a time of 18:43.4.
Sticking with the boys, David Douglas had sophomore Faysal Ibrahim place third in the Division 1 race with a PR time of 15:35.1.
And last but not least, Lincoln senior Elyse Henriksen ran to represent the Cardinals, taking 33rd in the top flight of the event, the Danner Championships. She finished in a time of 18:25.4.
Central Catholic was also in action, but down south in San Marcos, California, to run in the 4th annual Grit n Grind XC Challenge.
The Rams competed in both Gold divisions, taking second on the boys side with 54 points. Trabuco Hills (CA) won with 35 points. CC junior Kaiji Alleman was the leading Ram with a time of 14:52 to take third overall in the three-mile race, and senior Greer Shorr finished in ninth with a time of 15:12.3.
For the girls, the Rams took second with 47 points behind Mead (WA) in first with 35. Senior Marli Phelps led the three-mile race for CC with a fifth place finish in a time of 17:44.9.
