Corban Splits Pair of Matches Against Linfield and George Fox
BOX SCORES – CORBAN V. LINFIELD | CORBAN V. GEORGE FOX
NEWBERG, Ore. – Corban University split a pair of non-conference matches Saturday against NCAA Division III members Linfield and George Fox, as the Warriors fell in four sets to the Wildcats before surviving a five-set thriller against the Bruins inside the Wheeler Sports Center.
LINFIELD 3, CORBAN 1 (17-25, 25-17, 22-25, 21-25)
Corban's Olivia Shropshire tallied a match-high 15 kills, as the Warriors fell in four sets (17-25, 25-17, 22-25, 21-25) against NCAA Division III member Linfield in the Warriors' first of two matches Saturday inside the Wheeler Sports Center on the campus of George Fox University.
With today's result, Corban falls to 1-7 on the year and Linfield improves to 2-0 on its young season.
Along with Shropshire's offensive performance, Claire Bailey added nine kills to go along with a pair of six-kill performances by Jenny Harman and Miah Smith. The setting duo of Haley Meili and Payton Wilcox combined to hand out 31 assists, as Meili dished out a team-high 18 assists. Defensively, libero Katherine Salness tallied a match and season-high 26 digs with Bethany Durre chipping in with 10 digs of her own. At the net, Harman and Madison Purnell each registered two blocks for the Warriors.
The opening set would see Linfield jump out to a 10-point lead (14-4) on a kill by Molly McTaggert before Corban used a 12-4 run to pull within two points (18-16) on a kill by Smith. That would be as close as the Warriors would get in Set #1, as Linfield closed it out on a 7-1 run en route to securing the eight-point win (25-17).
Set #2 would see Corban break open a 13-13 tie with a 4-0 run that started with a kill by Meili before Shropshire bookended a combo block by Smith and Harman with a pair of kills to give the Warriors a 17-13 lead. Corban would push their lead to seven points (23-16) on a kill by Harman before scoring two of the final three points to even the match at a set apiece thanks to the 25-17 win.
The third set was a back-and-forth battle over the opening 44 combined points, as neither team earned more than a four-point cushion. With the set tied at 22-22 thanks to another kill by Shropshire, Linfield scored the final three points thanks to a set-closing kill by Cassie Gaza for the hard-fought 25-22 victory.
In the fourth and final set, Corban secured a three-point lead (17-14) on a Bailey kill that forced Linfield to call a timeout. After the break in action, Linfield used a 9-3 run to secure a three-point lead (23-20) before scoring two of the final three points to win by the final score of 25-21 and took home the victory in four sets.
Kailana Ritte-Camara led Linfield with 14 kills, while Shayli Coppock and Sam Hammons added 11 and seven kills, respectively. Gaza handed out a match-high 21 assists for the Wildcats, while Audrey Frazier registered 18 assists of her own. In the back row, Courtney Uyeda tallied a team-high 15 digs for Linfield to go along with five blocks by Suzanne Dahl.
CORBAN 3, GEORGE FOX 2 (25-23, 15-25, 15-25, 26-24, 15-13)
Trailing after three sets, Corban went extra points in the fourth set before scoring the final two points in the fifth and final set to break a 13-13 tie en route to earning the hard-fought victory in five (25-23, 15-25, 15-25, 26-24, 15-13) over George Fox Saturday inside the Wheeler Sports Center.
With the victory, Corban improves to 2-7 overall and George Fox falls to 1-1 in its young season.
For the second match in a row, Shropshire led the Warriors with 18 kills followed by Bailey with 12 and Harman with six kills and five blocks. Meili handed out a team-high 19 assists, while Wilcox dished out 17 assists of her own. Salness led the Warriors' defensive with a team and season-high tying 26 digs to go along with an 11-dig performance by Durre.
"The girls played great today and fought to the end," said Corban's head coach Tracy Smith. "We finished with confidence and it was really nice to see this type of play from not only our veterans, but the younger players as well."
The opening set was a dog-fight over the opening 22 combined points, as both teams could not muster most than a one-point lead. George Fox would open up a 10-point cushion (21-11) after breaking an 11-11 tie thanks to a 10-0 run. Corban would then go on a 12-2 run behind the serving of Smith and Meili to tie the set at 23-23 on a kill by Smith. Corban would get a kill from Durre before Smith ended the opening set with the final kill for a come-from-behind 25-23 victory.
Set #2 would see Corban open up a three-point lead (12-9) on a service ace by Salness before George Fox used a 16-3 run to close out the second set en route to earning the 25-15 victory that tied the match at a set apiece.
The third set would see George Fox take control from the opening serve, as the Bruins quickly jumped out to an eight-point lead (12-4) before Corban pulled within one point (13-12) on a GFU service error. Unfortunately that would be as close as the Warriors would get, as George Fox used a set-closing 12-3 run to earn another 25-15 victory en route to claiming a 2-to-1 lead in sets.
Set #4 would see Corban jump out to an 11-5 lead thanks to a kill by Harman before George Fox battled back to tie things at 23-23 thanks to an 18-12 run that concluded with a combo block by Erin Sprowls and Tiffany Burk. Corban's first set-point would come via a combo block by Harman and Shropshire before George Fox tied things once again at 24-all. The Warriors would score the final two points via a Shropshire kill and a GFU hitting error en route to earning the hard-fought 26-24 victory that forced a fifth and final set.
The fifth and final set would see both teams battle back-and-forth until the score was tied at 9-9. A 3-0 run by the Warriors that was highlighted by another kill by Shropshire handed Corban a 12-9 lead before George Fox used a 4-1 run to tie things at 13-13. Following a Corban timeout, the Warriors scored the final two points thanks to a kill by Shropshire and a match-ending kill by Bailey for the 15-13 victory that resulted in a come-from-behind victory for Corban in five grueling sets.
Karlee Jo Sampson led all players with a match-high 21 kills for George Fox, while Sprowls and Kylee Adderson added 14 and 10 kills, respectively, for the Bruins. Payton Shrum handed out a match-high 32 assists for GFU, while Chelsea Brustad collected 24 assists to go along with a match-high 31 digs by Chelsea Wilson. At the net, Burk tallied a team-best four blocks for the Bruins.
"Olivia (Shropshire) showed really strong leadership throughout today's match," added Smith. "She remained steady even when it was tight and we were struggling. I am pleased with how well Olivia is improving both offensively and defensively this season and cannot wait to see what she has in store for us heading into conference play this weekend."
Corban will return to action on Friday, September 6th, when the Warriors open Cascade Collegiate Conference play against nationally-ranked Southern Oregon beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem.