OIT Defeats NCC, 3-0
KLAMATH FALLS, Oregon (September 28, 2007)---Oregon Tech remains undefeated at home this season (5-0), as the Owls ran past Northwest Christian College tonight (3-0…30-13, 30-19, 30-19) at Danny Miles Court. With the win, Oregon Tech is now 13-8 overall and 5-3 in the Cascade Conference. NCC drops to 7-7, 2-5 CCC.
Offensively the Owls outside hitters were the go to players tonight; as Michelle Klaja (Sr. Klamath Falls) led Tech with a match high 14 kills, while counterpart Nicole Andrews (Jr. Chehalis, Wa.) smashed 11 of her own.
Middle hitters Katie Fuller (Sr. Roseburg) powered eight kills and Anna Leal (So. Yreka, Ca.) added seven kills to her total, while Leal also controlled the net with one solo block and six block assists. Most impressive for the Owls were 12 total team blocks versus only three for the visitors. The freshman duo of Beth Fuller (Fr. Roseburg) and Mikayla Morgon (Fr. Klamath Falls) had two kills each and combined for three solo blocks and six block assists, all coming in game three. NCC was led offensively by Brooke Stribling’s nine kills, while both Ashley Blanchfield and Alex Jee finished the evening in double digit digs, with 13 and 10 respectively.
Game one saw NCC leading at 6-5 before Anna Leal was fed the ball for two consecutive kills, an NCC hitting error and a kill by Tech’s Klaja made it 9-5 in favor Oregon Tech. A kill by Stribling stopped the run, but not before two NCC ball handling errors and a kill by Fuller made it 11-6. Tech and NCC traded points to 16-10 when Tech setter Lizzie Law (Jr. Kennewick, Wa) stepped to the service line and began a nine point run that shut the door on the Beacons. After another NCC ball handling error, Law recorded four aces in a row to make it 21-10, Leal recorded her fourth kill of game one, another ace by Law, her fifth of the run and two more kills by Andrews made it 26-10, before NCC’s Melissa Bishop (So. Lebanon, Or) got a kill to stop the run. With the score 28-13, Michelle Klaja put away two kills to end game one 30-13.
Game two saw NCC take an early 1-0 lead, but a Nicole Andrews kills started the momentum and another six point run to make it 6-1. With the score 12-5 Tech, two NCC hitting errors, a ball handling error, another Andrews kill and Leal solo block pushed the lead to double digits that the Beacons could not overcome. A Melissa Bishop kill got NCC within nine, but two Beacon service errors again took any hope at a comeback as both teams traded points to a final of 30-19.
Game three again saw NCC gain an early lead of 7-8, but a Beacon ball handling error made it 8-8 and spurred another Owl six point run. With the score 16-13, the Tech blocking took over. Mikalya Morgan and Anna Leal blocked a Stribling attack and on the next play, Morgan picked up a solo block to push the lead back up to five. A kill by Charlie Van Loon and Cotie Howard kept NCC within three, but a kill by Morgan, a block by Beth Fuller and a kill by Kelsey Russell that found the back line pushed the lead back to six at 21-15. After trading points, an Andrews kill and another Beth Fuller block and kill made it 25-16. The nine point deficit was too much to overcome as the home town crowd saw Tech cruise to another 30-19 win and a sweep of Northwest Christian College.
The Owls will have a rare Saturday off, as the addition of Northwest Christian College to the Cascade Conference this season leaves the CCC with 11 teams and no travel partner for Northwest Christian. NCC will visit Southern Oregon Saturday 9/29. Tech will host Cascade College on Friday 10/5 and Warner Pacific on 10/6. Both matches will start at 7 p.m.