Submitted photo – The WaveRiders in Oregon over the weekend.

Hard work is paying off for a group of local volleyball players, who enjoyed a successful trip to Oregon over the weekend.

The WaveRiders Volleyball Club, which is made up of seniors from Fortuna and Eureka high schools, traveled to compete in the Ashland volleyball tournament on Saturday and placed an impressive second in their bracket while competing against far more experienced teams.

And according to Waveriders coach Zane Easley, this group of players has worked hard to get to where they are.

“I’ve been coaching for 30 years and this is definitely the most motivated and talented group I have worked with,” the longtime coach said.

The seven-player 18U WaveRiders roster — which includes Sarah Keating, Khalil Lodes, Jayden Rollins-Edgmon, Anna Stacy, Gabby Crosswhite, Anisha Recheluul and Natalie Rogers — won three of their five games, including two of three in pool play, on their way to placing second out of 16 teams in the Gold Bracket.

“This is a tremendous achievement for a team coming out of a small area,” Easley said. “The girls up there play every weekend and travel all year long, so for a club from our area to just compete, let alone place in the Gold bracket, is tremendous.

“It tells you a lot for them to go to the Medford area and compete at the level they compete at.”

Most of the WaveRiders players have been playing together with the club for the past two years and have become good friends on and off the court.

“As a coach I’m probably most impressed with two things,” Easley said. “I have never seen any drama on this team, not once. The second thing is that they are all so skilled and can easily change positions with little problem, which is what we train for. 

“I want them to be able to go to college and take on any position their coach gives to them.”

According to the coach, most of the players want to continue their playing careers at the collegiate level and many of them are considering playing locally at College of the Redwoods.

And Easley believes they have the talent and work ethic to succeed at the next level, something they showed in Oregon over the weekend.

“Each of them are very skilled at the positions they play,” he said. “They all stand out, so you can’t really point to one player and say hey, that is the most talented player on the team.”

The tournament was the first of the season for the WaveRiders, who will travel back to Oregon for three more tournaments this year.