South Eugene Volleyball Continue Their Dominance Defeating Sheldon 3-1
On Sept. 10, the South Eugene girls’ volleyball team had an extraordinary 3-1 win against hometown rival Sheldon High School. The last time South beat Sheldon head-to-head was in 2023, when they also won 3-1. Last season, South had their best season yet, placing fourth after beating Oregon City High School, then losing to Adrienne Nelson High School at the 2025 OSAA 6A State Volleyball Tournament. This year, the team consists mostly of upperclassmen, meaning they are in strong contention to win a 6A state title this season.
“We’ve been working so hard over the past three, four years” South senior Kylie Smith said in an interview with The Register Guard, “to build this program and to build our players physically and mentally good enough to beat any team in our league or in the state. And I think this is a really big step towards that.”
Smith believes that staying positive and trusting her teammates was part of their huge success against Sheldon. Additionally, she attributes a lot of their improvement to Coach Ron Beick. In 2024, Beick took over as head coach of South Eugene volleyball, and since then the team has skyrocketed. They went from being ranked 17th at OSAA in 2024, to seventh in 2025; then to beating fourth-ranked Sheldon in 2026.
Senior and setter Lucy Alkire agrees with Smith, stating that volleyball is not only a very physically demanding sport, but can also be mentally difficult, especially against a hometown rival.
“It’s really important to go right off the bat and start out strong,” Alkire said. “That was really what I think helped us take the win.” Moving forward, the South volleyball team hopes to become the “scrappiest team in the state” and will continue to put 100 percent effort into every point. As of Sept. 24, South Eugene was ranked seventh in the state, with an overall record of seven wins and three losses. South Eugene will host their Senior Night game against North Eugene on Oct. 15.
Article By Yosuke Shibata