The opening week of fall sports was a busy one. Local volleyball teams played multiple games and Astoria soccer teams took the pitch for the first time. Here’s what happened on the field and on the court.
Volleyball teams show improvement
Improvement looks to be the name of the game for local volleyball teams.
Seaside, Knappa and Jewell flashed moments of good play during their first official weeks on the court. The Seagulls, under new coach Nicole Aydt, look to be coming into their own. After rebuilding the program behind freshmen, the Seagulls won just one game over the last two seasons.
Now, with many of the players entering their third year in the program, the Lady Gulls’ improvement looks to be real. The Seagulls had a solid showing at last Saturday’s seven team tournament at Warrenton. Seaside and Warrenton played two great matches against each other including a three-set thriller in the semi-finals. After struggling last season to maintain points, the Seagulls defense, passing and serving was very solid. Junior libero Chloe Baker served great against Warrenton and her defense helped the Seagulls all day Saturday. Senior captain Autumn Fenton and juniors Araya Edwards, Sophia Saso and Tiera Spivey make up a solid group of building blocks for Seaside.
As they enter a tough Cowapa league, the past weekend was a great first step in the continued program rebuild. Games against 4A opponents Gladstone and Taft this week will show if the Seagulls good early returns are legit.
Knappa volleyball has also flashed improved play. Though the Loggers were swept by Warrenton in their first game last Thursday, Aug. 27, the Loggers hung in and played some good volleyball. The girls also played at the Warrenton tournament and finished fourth. Knappa was tied with eventual champion Neah-Kah-Nie 20-20 in the first set before the Pirates pulled away. Much like Seaside, the Loggers are a junior and senior led team with girls who have now played multiple years of high school volleyball. Outside of Clatskanie, the other teams in the 2A-1 Northwest League are unknowns, so the Loggers will have a chance to improve on their win total of last season, which was 4.
Jewell volleyball already has two wins on the season as the team went 2-3 in its initial stretch of games. Returning just two seniors — Koa Chronister and Ellie Findlay — the Blue Jays have wins over Horizon Christian, Hood River and Yoncalla. Jewell began this week with a game against Perrydale on Tuesday. They have another with Willamette Valley Christian on Thursday. The Blue Jays will then host Knappa at noon on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Warrenton volleyball freshman class: Impressive
Warrenton’s volleyball season will come down to the team’s freshmen.
Though that statement may sound farfetched, it’s true in this case. The Warriors entered 2026 with just five players from their 2025 roster still on the team. With six freshmen and four playing as part of their rotation, the early season for Warrenton was going to be about showcasing the future of their program. So far, the results have been stellar. The four freshmen — Emma Elliot, Karli Ganteinbein, Addison Davis and Lili Anderson — look comfortable playing varsity volleyball. There may have been some mistakes made, but overall the returns have been good. Warrenton’s team is currently 2-1 officially on the season.
With junior captains Natalie Davis and Scarlet Anderson returning along with sophomore Aiden Armstrong and seniors Kiki Olson and Layla Anderson, the Warriors have a solid foundation. The Warriors finished second at their own tournament on Saturday, Aug. 29 and battled league foe Neah-Kah-Nie in a three-set thriller. Non-league games against Clatskanie and Willamina this week will continue molding the team during the early portion of the season.
Astoria soccer steps onto the pitch
After the U.S. hosted the 2026 World Cup this summer, local teams are now set to take center stage.
Astoria’s soccer team stepped on the pitch at CMH Field for the first time since 2025 in hopes of improvement.
The boys fell 4-0 to Cascade, then the girls played Cascade to a 0-0 draw. With just one game played it’s hard to make a determination on where the Fishermen soccer program will stack up in league. For the boys, Seaside and Tillamook will pace the field and the girls will have Valley Catholic and Scappoose as top five teams to contend with. As always, two rivalry games with Seaside are also on deck.
Seaside soccer is set to begin the season on Friday, Sept. 4 at the Bend Soccer Showcase.