Concordia's Katie Shelby recorded six block assists in teh 3-1 win against Oregon Tech on Friday night.
Concordia Topples Oregon Tech 3-1
PORTLAND, Ore.—After allowing a 50 percent attack rate in the opening set, the Concordia defense, led by 17 combined block assists from McKenzie Rath, Katie Shelby and Lindsey Fryer, held the Oregon Tech attack in check for a 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-14, 25-17) win on Friday night.
With the result, Concordia improved to 17-11 on the season and 13-6 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play while OIT dropped to 20-6 and 15-4 in CCC contests. Concordia has now won seven of its last eight matches with the lone loss coming at the hands of CCC leader The College of Idaho.
“There were certain aspects of this match that we wanted to control with our serving and our defense and with the exception of the first game the team stayed focused on their individual responsibilities,” Concordia head coach Christopher Duenow said. “For the past month the team has really started doing a great job of executing the game plan and making it their own throughout the match.”
Oregon Tech marched to a 25-17 win in the opening stanza after connecting on 19 kills in 30 total attacks, but Concordia clipped the Owls attack rate in half in the second set, allowing OIT a .220 conversion rate en route to a 25-21 victory to even the match at 1-1.
After a Krista Wooley (Reedsport, Ore.) kill to even the third set at 4-4, Concordia rattled off nine straight points highlighted by a trio of blocks by the Cavalier front line, to take a commanding 13-4 lead. The Cavs would put together a pair of four-point streaks together and finish out the set with the 25-14 win.
With 13 ties in the first 28 points neither team could create a gap in the fourth set. The Cavs would even the match at 14-14 with a Raluca Dinca (Portland, Ore.) kill, while Fryer (Bremerton, Wash.) put CU up for good on the next exchange. Up 15-14, the Cavaliers would finish the set and the match with a 10-3 run for the 25-17 finale.
The 14 points by Owls in the fourth set was the lowest mark OIT has been held to in a non-fifth set since August 30. Wooley led the floor with 18 kills while teammate Lizzie Law (Kennewick, Wash.) tallied a match-high 47 assists.
Led by a trio of players in double figures, including a dozen kills by Dinca and Jamie Richards (Ariel, Wash.), the Cavs outhit the visiting Owls .301 to .271. Fryer and Shelby (Kirkland, Wash.) each posted six block assists while Rath (Selah, Wash.) added five as CU outblocked OIT 12-to-3.
“The team is playing with a high level of cohesion right now and that has allowed us to enjoy the game and celebrate each other’s successes on the court, and that’s been fun as a coach to watch that collective effort in action,” Duenow said.
Concordia will conclude the regular season tomorrow at home against Southern Oregon. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. at the Cavalier Gymnasium.
“One of our primary goals down the stretch has been to follow up an emotional win with a second solid performance and we will get one of those opportunities tomorrow against a Southern Oregon team that has been playing at a very high level,” Duenow said.
Before the match, the Cavs will honor its four-member senior class of Lindsey Fryer, Jamie Richards, Abby Schuldheisz and Katie Shelby.