Central Oregon is becoming a hotbed for high school volleyball talent.

Five local teams reached state tournament sites this past fall as Sisters won the Class 3A state championship and Bend High finished second in 5A.

Now, a club team featuring players from six different Central Oregon high schools has qualified to play in the prestigious USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship in Baltimore, April 26-28.

The Central Oregon Volleyball Club’s 18s team posted a 9-0 record this past weekend at the Pacific Northwest Qualifier in Spokane, Washington, placing first in the American Division, which included 32 teams from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Texas.

The National Pacific Juniors team from Bend also competed in the qualifier, finishing with a record of 6-3.

COVC’s 18s Nationals team consists of 13 Central Oregon high school volleyball players, and is currently ranked No. 1 in the Columbia Empire Volleyball Association region.

The team competed throughout the winter in the most competitive tournaments in Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Nevada.

“I am very proud of this group of young ladies,” said COVC club director Heidi Wood. “Many of these athletes have grown up through our program with the dream of getting a bid to the USAV Nationals. We knew this was a special group of hard working athletes, and they had this on their list of goals this season. For many of our seniors this had been long in the making, and finally this season they did it, and we are so proud of them.”

The COVC 18s Nationals team includes players from Sisters High, Crook County, Ridgeview, Mountain View, Trinity Lutheran and Caldera, most of whom are seniors and have received scholarships to play volleyball collegiately.

Two standouts from Sisters include Gracie Vohs and Bailey Robertson, who led the Outlaws to the 3A state title last fall. Vohs was the 3A state player of the year and will play NCAA Division 1 volleyball at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California. Robertson was first-team all state and will play at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California.

Jaycee Villastrigo of Crook County was second-team all state in Class 4A and is committed to play volleyball at Eastern Oregon University in the fall.

Madison Hernandez of Trinity Lutheran was first-team all state and led the Saints to a third-place finish in the 1A state tournament. Hernandez plans to play at Corban University in Salem.

Ellie Owens of Ridgeview was second-team all state in 5A and will play for Oregon Tech in Klamath Falls.

Two COVC players from Mountain View, Katelyn Mawdsley and Whitney Farrell, were both second-team all league in the Intermountain Conference. Mawdsely will play for Linfield University in McMinnville and Farrell will play for the University of Redlands in California this fall.

“This team has pushed hard through practices and tournaments, and they are disciplined and coachable,” said COVC’s 18s head coach Rylee Troutman, a former COVC player and Ridgeview High star who played for Corban University. “They have worked hard for this opportunity, and it is an honor to coach them.”

For more information on the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship, visit usavolleyball.org.