Corban Opens CCC Season with Victory Over Knights
PORTLAND, Ore. - Corban earned a four-set win over Warner Pacific, 3-1 (25-12, 25-16, 26-28, 25-22), Friday inside C.C. Perry Gym in the first Cascade Conference match for both teams.
The host Knights (1-1, 0-1 CCC) got off to a rough start in set one, falling behind 9-1 in the opening minutes. Corban used strong serving to build the big lead and never let WP back in the frame. The visiting Warriors (7-2, 1-0 CCC) finished with seven aces in the set, including a pair each from Megan Dees, Olivia Shropshire, and Alison Pargeter. Warner Pacific used a mini-run to draw within 22-10, but two kills from Rebecca Shafer gave the set to Corban, 25-12.
Set two was much closer as the teams battled to a 11-11 tie. Three hitting errors from WP in the middle of the frame was the opening that Corban needed, and the Warriors took advantage. Brie Schau stopped the Corban rally momentarily with a kill, but two more aces from Corban's Alex Matulewicz pushed the lead out to 21-13. The Knights did not recover and Corban prevailed 25-16.
Warner Pacific came out fighting in set three, and managed to break away to a 21-16 lead thanks to three kills each from Loren Hernandez and Kim Mulka. The 6-3 Mulka also patrolled the net for a solo block and two block assists. Corban rallied in an attempt at a sweep, and fought back to tie the set at 24-24 on a Courtney Mulford spike. Kills from WP's Kelsey Kurtz and Mulka combined with a Corban service error gave the set to the Knights 28-26 and prolonged the match.
A suddenly confident Knight squad surged to a 10-5 lead in set four due in part to three more kills and a block from Mulka. Warner Pacific looked to force a deciding game and led 15-10 before Corban began to right the ship and climb back in the set. Olivia Shropshire respoded with two kills and followed later with back-to-back aces to tie the score at 18-18. The Knights hung tough thanks to a pair of kills from Jacalyn Chew-Dorsey, and kept the score tied at 22-22. From there, Corban used a WP hitting error and Kills from Shropshire and Tiffany land to take the set and the match.
Warner Pacific was led offensively by Mulka, who tallied a team-high 12 kills to go along with a match-high 29 assists by Kelsey Kurtz. Defensively, Amanda Richards registered a team-best 20 digs for the Knights to go along with Mulka's match-high five blocks.
For Corban, Chandra Baskoro led all players with a match-high 13 kills, while Shropshire and a pair of Warriors – Tiffany Land and Rebecca Shafer – added 10, 9, and 9 kills respectively. Senior Megan Dees ran Corban's offense handing out a team-high 28 assists, while libero Bethany Durre tallied a match-high 25 digs from her back row position. At the net, three different Warriors – Land, Shropshire, and freshman Courtney Mulford – tallied a team-high three blocks each, while Shropshire uncorked a match-high four service aces to lead Corban's 15-ace attack.