Becky Johstone had a match-high 24 digs.
Warriors Knock Off SOU To Advance
ASHLAND, ORE. -- The 21st-ranked Lewis-Clark State volleyball team won a thrilling five-set 15-25, 25-14, 30-32, 25-13, 16-14 victory over 13th-ranked Southern Oregon in the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Opening Round at McNeal Pavilion.
With the victory, the Warriors advance to the NAIA Volleyball National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa on Dec. 1-5.
Lewis-Clark State improved to 24-7 overall. Southern Oregon has its season end at 24-4.
Lauryn Herrick finished with 14 kills to lead the Warriors, while Anile Clemente added 12 kills and Demi Dlouhy added 10.
Southern Oregon was led by Leah Bergstrom and Heather Porter’s 13 kills. Chelsea Hartman finished with 10 kills.
The Raiders jumped out in the opening set with a 17-2 lead and won the opening set 25-14. The Warriors bounced back in the second set and won 25-14.
The third set was a thriller as the Raiders came back from 24-21 and held off set point to tie the set at 24-24 on a Lewis-Clark error.
The two teams were tied at 25-25, 26-26, 27-27, 28-28, 29-29 and 30-30 before an attack error and a Leanne Stennett smash gave the Raiders the victory and the momentum.
The Warriors quickly took that momentum away and forced a fifth set after jumping out to a 10-5 lead and holding the Raiders to a -.024 attack percentage.
In the fifth set, the Raiders quickly jumped out and led 6-3 on a Dolores Christensen service ace and 8-6 on a Sarah Holgen kills.
Lewis-Clark tied the set at 11-11 on an SOU attack error and took a 12-11 lead on a Lisa Davis ace.
After the two teams were tied at 13-13, SOU held off match point with a Becky Johnstone kills, but a service error gave the Warriors match point again and a Dlouhy kill sent the Warriors to Sioux City and a chance to play for the National Championship.
Johnstone had a match-high 24 digs and Corynn Jorgensen added 17 for the Raiders. Porter finished with eight blocks and Angela Spieker had a match-high 32 assists.
Clemente led the Warriors with 19 digs and Jenika Bird finished with six blocks.