Oregon Tech picked up its first win of the Cascade Collegiate Conference season with a three-set victory over host Corban Saturday in Salem.
Oregon Tech Closes Opening Weekend of CCC Play With Sweep Over Corban
BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – In its final match of the opening weekend of Cascade Collegiate Conference play Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center, Oregon Institute of Technology defeated Corban University in straight sets, 3-0 (19-25, 13-25, 15-25), behind a match-high 12 kills by Marlee Smith.
With tonight's result, Oregon Tech evens its record at 7-7 overall and 1-1 in league play. On the other hand, Corban falls to 2-8 overall and 0-2 in CCC matches.
Oregon Tech was led offensively by Smith with the aforementioned match-high 12 kills, while Kelsey Sampson and Renee Baumann added eight and four, respectively. Kayleigh Whelchel handed out a match-high 15 assists for the Owls, while Megan Holland added nine and Victoria Porter chipped in with five assists in limited playing time during the third and final set. In the back row, Marie Baumann led the Owls with 15 digs to go along with a match-high tying five blocks each by Kylie Kitzmiller and Baumann.
For Corban, Olivia Shropshire and Claire Bailey led the Warriors' offense with seven kills each, while Jenny Harman, Miah Smith, and Kelsey Wright added four, three, and three kills, respectively. The setting duo of Payton Wilcox and Haley Meili combined to handed out 21 assists, as Wilcox dished out a team-high 11 assists to go along with Meili's 10. Defensively, libero Katherine Salness led all players with a match-high 21 digs that included nine in the third and final set alone. At the net, Wilcox and Madison Purnell led the Warriors with three blocks each.
The opening set would see Oregon Tech jump out to a five-point lead (6-1) behind the serving of Jennifer Lakin before Corban called its first timeout of the set. Following the break in action, Corban used an 11-7 run to pull within a single point (13-12) on a service ace by Brittany Sweet. Oregon Tech would bounced back by scoring the next three points to take a 16-12 lead before Corban used a 4-2 run to pull within two points (18-16) on a service ace by Salness. Unfortunately that would be as close as Corban would get, as Oregon Tech closed the set on a 7-3 run to earn the 25-19 victory.
Set #2 would see Oregon Tech build an early lead (7-3) once again before pushing its advantage to 11 points (20-9). The visiting Owls would earn set-point (24-11) on a combo block by Smith, Kitzmiller, and Baumann before Corban held OIT at bay for the next two points thanks to Owl miscues. In the end though, Oregon Tech's lead was too much as the Owls got a set-ending kill from Smith en route to earning the 25-13 victory and a two-set lead.
In the third and final set, Oregon Tech held a four-point lead (7-3) when Corban was struck with a tough injury to Shropshire that forced her to the sideline for the remainder of the match. After the injury to Shropshire, Oregon Tech push its lead to nine points (12-3) before extending it further to 10 points (20-10) on a kill by Sampson. Corban would attempt to fight its way back, as the Warriors used a 5-2 run to pull within seven points (22-15) on a kill by Wright. Two straight kills by the Owls along with a match-ending block by Madisen Garlie and Mykala Rubey would secure the straight set victory for Oregon Tech, as OIT pick up the 25-15 win.
Both teams will return to action on Friday, September 13th, as Oregon Tech takes on CCC rival Southern Oregon at home in Klamath Falls and Corban travels north to Portland to take on Concordia inside Cavalier Gymnasium. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.