Sophomore Tiffany Land set a new career mark in kills with tonight's performance against the defending GNAC champions and D-II's No. 24-ranked Western Oregon.
Corban Falls to Wolves of Western Oregon
BOX SCORE
MONMOUTH, Ore. – In its first match of the season in the state of Oregon, Corban's volleyball team fell to NCAA Division II member and No. 24-ranked Western Oregon, 3-0 (20-25, 18-25, 25-27), Tuesday night inside the New PE Building.
After returning to the Beaver State after a four-match adventure in Southern California, Corban took to the court against the defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions with hopes of picking up its first victory of the season. Unfortunately, the Warriors ran into a hard-hitting Wolves squad that held its opponent to a .101 hitting percentage (32-20-119).
For the second straight match, sophomore Tiffany Land (Independence, Ore.) led Corban with a match-high 16 kills as she was the lone Warrior to record more than five kills.
After battling over the first 10 combined points, Western Oregon used a 19-11 run en route to securing an eight-point lead (24-16). Using their never-say-die attitude, Corban put together a mini 4-0 run that was highlighted by a service ace by freshman Karisa Calderon (Murrieta, Calif.) that brought the Warriors within four points (24-20). Having stemmed off four straight set points, Corban could not continue that streak when Western Oregon ended the opening frame with a kill by the Wolves' Laura Sakala for the final score of 25-20.
In Set #2, Western Oregon built a quick lead thanks to an opening 13-4 run that ended with a service ace by the Wolves' Samatha Ward. Corban would get within six points (23-17) after back-to-back-to-back kills by Land before Western Oregon would score two points with the final one coming off the arm of Danielle Reese for the victory in the middle frame by the final score of 25-18.
The third and final set saw Western Oregon build an early lead (17-10) before Corban came back via a 11-4 run that knotted the frame at 21-all. Both teams would battle back and forth over the next eight combined points until the score was tied at 25-25. The match would come to an end after two straight kills by Western Oregon's Reese that handed the host Wolves a 27-25 victory and seal WOU's win in three straight sets.
Along with Land, Calderon added five kills, a match-high tying 20 assists, and 15 digs en route to registering her third straight double-double. A trio of freshman – Chandra Baskoro (Gresham, Ore.), Jenny Harman (Salem, Ore.), and Morgan Hirzel (Fullerton, Calif.) – registered 4, 3, and 2 kills respectively, while junior Teri Braun (Dallas, Ore.) rounded out the Warriors that registered kills with a pair. Junior Rebecca Franke (Pendleton, Ore.) turned in her best performance of the season with a match-high 24 digs from her back row position, while Calderon and Braun had three blocks each.
Western Oregon was led by Sakala's team-best 11 kills, while Reese and Sylvia Herrold added 10 and 6 kills respectively. Amy Herron led the Wolves' offense with a match-high tying 20 assists, while Danielle English anchored WOU's back row with a team-high 16 digs.
With tonight's result, Corban falls to 0-5 and will return to the court on Friday, August 28th, when they take on Simpson University beginning at 3:00 p.m. in Portland.
NOTE: Friday's afternoon match between Corban and Simpson will take place inside Cavalier Gymnasium on the campus of Concordia University in Portland. The match was scheduled in Portland due to gym conflicts in Salem due to freshman orientation, as well as Simpson's match against Concordia later that evening in the Rose City.