Fast Break: Volleyball gleams, football knocks on the door, soccer trudges forward

Students of Willamette play a game of pickup soccer with the ducks. Art by Alyssa Diggdon.

Welcome back, Bearcat Fan! I hope you all enjoyed your mid-semester break. I did not, considering I witnessed the Oregon Ducks choke against the Indiana Hoosiers live in the flesh in Autzen Stadium on Saturday, where it did in fact rain a not insignificant amount. But alas! Life goes on, no matter how much we wish it not to. Okay, enough with the despair. Onto the news!

Men’s soccer had a decent showing over the weekend, winning 1-0 at home over Lewis & Clark on Saturday and tying 1-1 against Pacific in Forest Grove on Sunday. In the latter match, Willamette maintained a suffocating offensive presence, totaling an impressive eight shots, but only two were on goal. Coming off the tie, Willamette now find themselves in the No. 5 spot in conference standing. 

Women’s soccer tied in both matches over the weekend, and Claire Warthen (’27) added two more goals to her season total in the home match against Lewis & Clark. The ’Cats find themselves in the No. 7 spot in conference rankings coming off the midseason point.

Volleyball dominated in both matches on Friday and Saturday against the Boxers and the Pios, respectively, earning two clean sweeps in a row. Katey Cramer (’26) earned an impressive 29 kills over both matches, placing her No. 4 in Northwest Conference rankings for total kills. Libero Dream Takemoto (’28) once more dominated defensively over the weekend, and is sitting at No. 1 in the conference for total digs, with an astonishing 4.7 digs per set average, which is around .30 higher than anyone else in the rankings.

Football had a strong showing in the battle for the wagon wheel, a tradition which I was not aware existed until approximately two days ago, losing by just a score against the Pios at home. The Pios remain one of 16 undefeated teams across all of DIII.

Golf participated in the NWC Fall Classic over the weekend, but as final stats have not been released yet, I can only assume they died in combat in the war-torn Portland area.

In the wider world of sport: The Hoosiers rise to No. 3 in the AP Top 25, the top two spots remain unchanged, and James Franklin is out as head coach of Penn State. There is no need to discuss further. The Seattle Mariners outlasted the Detroit Tigers in 15 innings on Friday to proceed to the ALCS, then won their first game of the series against the Blue Jays on Sunday. The Brewers, meanwhile, are battling the reigning Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, and for the midwest’s honor. The Las Vegas Aces and greatest player of the current era A’ja Wilson swept the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA finals, and the Philadelphia Eagles lost again to the … New York Giants? 

In the coming weeks: Football is looking to redeem themselves after two tough conference losses in possibly their closest matchup of the year against the Loggers in Tacoma on Saturday, and both men’s and women’s soccer are hoping to bag a win against the George Fox Bruins at home on Wednesday. Meanwhile, can volleyball continue their conference win streak against the Bruins? And how will cross-country fare at the George Oja Invitational at Linfield on Saturday?