Senior Chelsea Reeher was a menace at the net against Northwest, as she registered a match-high six blocks that included five assist blocks.
Corban Avenges Earlier Loss to Eagles of Northwest
BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – Five different Warriors recorded 15-or-more digs led by sophomore libero Rebecca Franke's (Pendleton, Ore.) match-high 30, as Corban's women's volleyball team avenged an earlier season loss to the Eagles of Northwest, 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 25-27, 25-19), Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
Earlier this season, Northwest handed Corban a five-set defeat at the season-opening Holiday Inn Express Volleyball Tournament in Lewiston, Idaho. This time around, the Warriors combined for 58 kills and a season-high 11.0 blocks en route to walking away from the opening weekend of conference play unbeaten for the second straight season.
In the opening set, Northwest jumped out an early 8-2 lead before Corban fought back to tie the set at 11-all via a 9-3 run. With the score knotted at 15-15, the Warriors used a mini 2-0 run that was capped off with a kill by senior Chelsea Reeher (Powell Butte, Ore.) to give Corban a 17-15 lead. From that point on, the Warriors used an 8-6 run to close out the opening set by four points (25-21).
In the second set, the visiting Eagles once again jumped out to an early lead (5-1) following back-to-back-to-back hitting errors by Corban. Fortunately for the Warriors, they were able to battle back and grabbed a two-point lead (8-6) following a kill by sophomore Teri Braun (Dallas, Ore.). With the score knotted at 21-all, Corban got a kill by freshman Tiffany Land (Independence, Ore.) along with a hitting error by Northwest to grab a two-point lead (23-21) and never looked back en route to winning the second set by three points (25-22).
In the third set, Northwest grabbed its third straight early lead (5-2) only to have Corban used another one of its numerous runs to re-gain the lead 10-8 following back-to-back solo blocks by senior Rachel Gowen (Oregon City, Ore.). Following a kill by Lauren Holtz, Northwest grabbed a two-point advantage (13-11) before both teams fought tooth and nail until the score was knotted once again at 20-20. Over the next ten points, neither team pulled away by more than one with Corban tying the set for the final time at 25-all via another kill by Land. Northwest took the third set by two points (27-25) following a Holtz kill and a Warrior hitting error.
In the fourth and final set, the trend continued as Corban fell behind once again (6-4) only to battle back and take an insurmountable 15-9 lead following a kill by Gowen. With the score 23-17 in favor of the home Warriors, Northwest used a 3-0 run to get back within three points only to have a hitting error called on them because one of its players was in the net. That miscue brought Corban within a mere point of winning the match and freshman Megan Dees (Tehachapi, Calif.) ended the four-set affair with a kill for the game's final point and a four-set Corban victory (25-19).
Senior Rashelle Davenport (Kalama, Wash.) led the Warriors with 12 kills, while Gowen and Land added 11 each. Braun chipped in with a season-high 10 kills, while junior Amy Thompson (Oregon City, Ore.) handed out a match-high 27 assists to go along with a season-high 20 digs for her first double-double of the season. Franke anchored a Corban back line that amassed a season-high 129 digs, as junior Andrea Potloff (Aumsville, Ore.) registered a career-high 25 digs to aid the defensive cause.
For Northwest, Holtz recorded a match and team-high 14 kills to go along with Madeleine Krahn and Alisha Larion's 8 and 7-kill performance respectively. Libby Hellwig and Tarah Petrick combined to hand out 29 assists with Hellwig registering a team-high 16. Andrea Cotton anchored the Eagles' back line with a team-high 24 digs, while Petrick and Hellwig recorded 18 and 15 digs respectively.
With the victory, Corban evens its overall record at 3-3 and improves to a perfect 2-0 in CCC action. Meanwhile, Northwest falls to 3-6 overall, 0-2 in CCC play. The Warriors return to action on Tuesday, September 9th, when they travel north to Portland to take on conference rival and fellow CCC unbeaten Concordia beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside Cavalier Gymnasium.