MaxPreps Oregon Team of the Week: Jesuit volleyball

The Jesuit (Portland) girls volleyball team surely has a battle cry this season.

"Remember Central Catholic."

A year after winning the state championship, the Crusaders lost an excruciating five-game state 6A semifinal match. They lost 15-13 in the final game.

It doesn't get much tougher than that.

Jesuit lost four players off that team, but only one starter, so the Crusaders figure to be a top state contender. Judging from their 5-0 start, that is definitely the case.

Among their wins were over Central Catholic — 25-12 29-27 — and as yet they haven't lost a game.

For their focused, fast start, Jesuit is the MaxPreps Oregon Team of the Week, presented by the Oregon National Guard.

Thus far, Jesuit coach Teresa Zimmerlee is impressed with what her team has accomplished. But, she warns, there's a long way to go.

"This is an experienced and driven team, so we feel pretty positive about our progress so far," she said in an email. "Although we are off to a strong start, there are a lot of things that we can work on to improve.

"This team has a lot of talent, but we know that you can never take another team for granted, and other teams are also working to get better, so we will use every opportunity in practice and games to reach our full potential."

In the win over Central Catholic, setter Symone Tran (13 assists), spread the ball around beautifully.

Nicole Peterson, a 6-foot junior, led the team with nine kills, sophomore Jasmine Gross had seven and sophomore Kathryn Decker added six.

Thus far, Peterson leads the team in kills for the season with 35, followed by Gross (30), junior Arianna Wiltjer (20) and Decker (19).

Senior Elise Krippaehne leads the team with six aces and Peterson has four, and Grace Massey has the most digs with 30, followed by Peterson (17), Tran (15) and senior Lexi Dixon (14). Tran has 107 assists.

Peterson is in the middle of most of the fray and a superb leader.

"Nicole is confident on the floor. She sees the game as it develops and reads the court and players as well as any player that I have ever seen play," Zimmerlee said. "She is not afraid of making a mistake or taking risks. Nicole anchors our team, and the players count on, and trust her on the floor.

"Nicole has a lot of talent — and humility to match."

Jesuit has a tremendous history under Zimmerlee, having won three state titles since 2004. In that time, the Crusaders have an impressive record of 253-31-2.

With this group in particular, there is only one ultimate goal.

"The state championship is the goal," Zimmerlee said. "We know how hard we will have to work to achieve that goal. We are aware that many teams share that goal also, so we don't assume that just because we started the season strong that we get to coast.

"We are on the court every day trying to improve in every aspect of the game."

Staff writer Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.

Do you know a team that deserves consideration for Oregon Team of the Week? Email us with your nominations at ORteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.