Oregon Tech's Sarah Svedin (11) and Kai Evans-Bautista (3) record a block in win over Northwest Christian University on Friday night. (photo by Kelly Caleb)
Oregon Tech Aces Way to Victory
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. –The Oregon Tech volleyball team recorded 15 aces, including three down the stretch in the fourth set, to take out Northwest Christian University 3-1 (25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 25-23) tonight in Cascade Conference play.
Oregon Tech moves to 11-9 overall and 5-8 in the CCC standings. NCU drops to 11-12 on the season and 5-9 in conference play.
After jumping out 11-7, Oregon Tech scored eight of the next nine points to move out to a 19-8 advantage, and eventually take the opener 25-17.
After an 11-11 tie in set 2, OIT led 16-12 behind a pair of Joey Parnell kills. NCU closed the gap to 17-15, but a Jennifer Saltenberger kill capped a 3-0 run that put the Owls up five, 20-15. NCU closed to within four points, but the Owls would answer with their own four point run to win 25-18.
Set 3 saw eight lead changes and 13 ties, the last at 19-19. OIT continued its run of four after a Krystie Vea ace, one of her match-high 5, and kills from Parnell and Mindy Nalder put the Owls up 23-19. But after NCU’s Danielle Nance took the serve the Beacons would rally to score the final six points to take the set 25-23.
Set 4 continued to be a see-saw affair, as the teams played to nine ties, the last at 17-17, before NCU moved up 20-17. A Parnell kill ended the Beacon momentum, but not for long as NCU scored the next two to move up 22-18.
A cross court kill by Saltenberger stopped the Beacon momentum, while Parnell recorded 3 aces to cap a six point run for Tech and give the home team a 24-22 lead. An OIT attack error made things interesting, but NCU put the next serve long to give the Owls a much needed victory in conference play.
Joey Parnell led the Owl offensive attack with a match-high 17 kills, followed by Mindy Nalder with 11. Setter Sarah Svedin recorded a match-high 39 assists, while Krystie Vea tallied a match-high 28 digs and 5 aces. Parnell finished with a double-double after recording 11 digs and tacked on 4 aces of her own, while Marie Baumann added 13 digs in the win.
For the Beacons, Janell Fetters finished with a team-high 13 kills, followed by Maren Mansfield with 9 and Danielle Nance with 6. Cori Wallace finished with 26 assists and 13 digs, with Dana Clark gathering 17 digs in the loss for NCU.
Oregon Tech will host Corban University tomorrow, while NCU travels to Southern Oregon University to end the week of CCC action.