Corban Defeats NCC Behind Reeher
SALEM, Ore. – Junior Chelsea Reeher (Powell Butte, Ore.) recorded a career-high 24 kills and sophomore setter Amy Thompson (Oregon City, Ore.) handed out a career-high 71 assists, as Corban's women's volleyball team defeated first-year conference member Northwest Christian, 3-1 (30-28, 30-26, 36-38, 31-29), on Saturday inside the Jeffers Sports Center.
Along with Reeher's career-high in kills, Thompson handed the third most assists in Warrior women's volleyball history as she joined former Warrior Chris Neely (1997-2000) as the only Corban duo to have recorded 70-or-more assists in a single match.
In the opening game, Corban jumped out a quick two-point lead (2-0) and then watched as the visiting Beacons used a 5-0 run to take their first lead (5-2). Northwest Christian continued to apply the pressure and built its lead to as much as five (11-6) before the host Warriors used a 5-0 run of their own to knot Game #1 at 11-all. Both teams battled back and forth until the game was tied at 23-all and the Warriors used a mini 3-0 run capped by a kill from freshman Teri Braun (Dallas, Ore.) to take a 26-23 lead. Despite being so close, Northwest Christian could not overcome that mini run by Corban as the Warriors held the lead and took the opening game by two points, 30-28.
Game #2 began the opposite for the Warriors, as Northwest Christian captured the first two points and then grabbed a 3-1 lead following a service error by Corban. Neither team gave up and battled back as the game was tied at 7-7 before the Warriors went on another 3-0 run that was capped by blocks from Braun and junior Rashelle Davenport (Kalama, Wash.) and a service ace from Thompson. Following a 10-10 tie, Corban went on a 4-0 run that included a pair of kills from Reeher and then extended its lead to seven points (20-13) before the visiting Beacons began to battle back. Unfortunately for Northwest Christian, they could only get as close as three points (24-21) before Corban applied the pressure that handed the Warriors the game, 30-26.
In the third game, both teams battled back and forth for the first 38 points and saw the game tied at 19-all following another kill from Braun. Northwest Christian began to apply the pressure and grabbed a five point lead (26-21) before the host Warriors used another 5-0 run to knot the game at 26-26. With the score tied 29-all, Northwest Christian got a kill from Meagan Hunts that handed the visiting Beacons their first game point of the match. Freshman Kristen Eiler(Salem, Ore.) put a quick end to that hope with a kill, but neither team could close the door on its opponent until Northwest Christian scored the final two points on back-to-back kills from Cotie Howard that handed the Beacons Game #3, 38-36.
In the fourth and final game with the score tied at 13-all, Northwest Christian used a 3-0 run to take a 16-13 lead and then increased it to 19-15 before the wheels began to slowly fall off. Corban used a 5-0 run to take a slim one-point lead (20-19) therefore forcing the visiting Beacons to call a timeout. Out of the break, NCC's Melissa Bishop tied the game at 20-20 only to watch as Corban re-took the lead (23-21). Northwest Christian's Mercedes LeClaire then jumped behind the service line and awarded the visiting Beacons five straight points to take what seemed to be a commanding 26-23 lead. Following a timeout by first-year head coach Heather Dunn, Corban used a 5-2 run to tie the game at 28-all and then climbed aboard the arm of Davenport for the final two kills that gave the Warriors a much-needed 31-29 win and the match victory in four games.
Along with Reeher, Eiler and Davenport recorded career-highs of 19 and 18 kills respectively while senior Ashley Lange (Salem, Ore.) chipped in with 10 kills. Both Reefer and Davenport recorded double-doubles with 16 digs each, while junior Margo Wyatt (Dufur, Ore.) recorded a match and season-high 42 digs from the back row. Thanks to her match dig total, Wyatt sits in second place behind former Warrior and current assistant coach Becky Horn (2005-06) for most digs in a single match.
Northwest Christian was led by Brooke Stripling's team-high 20 kills, while Ashley Blanchfill and a pair of Beacons added 10 and 8 kills respectively. Alex Jee handed out a team-high 24 assists, while Hunt added 17 of her own. Four different Beacons recorded double-digit dig totals led by LeClaire's team-high 22 from the back row.
With the win, Corban improves to 5-5 overall, 3-1 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, Northwest Christian falls to 6-5 overall, 1-3 in CCC action. The Warriors return to court on Friday, September 21st, when they host the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.