Cavs rout Knights in Halloween sweep
PORTLAND, Ore.— Looking to stay in the race for a first-round bye in the CCC Tournament, Concordia University upended Warner Pacific 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-16) on Friday night inside the C.C. Perry Gym.
Concordia (16-7, 13-3 CCC) completed its eight sweep of the season by outhitting the Knights .358 to .074. The Cavaliers will close out its regular season on Nov. 8-9 when it travels to face Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon University.
SOU holds the top mark in the CCC with a 14-1 conference record where its lone loss occurred in a 3-1 setback against Concordia on Sept. 20. The Cavs remain two games back of SOU and a half of a game back of Eastern Oregon (13-2). The two leading teams will meet on Nov. 1 in La Grande, Ore.
Against the Knights on Halloween night, the Cavs traded early blows with the home team in the first set before a 10-3 run gave the Cavs the seven-point win.
A similar attack worked in the second set with a 15-6 spree giving the Cavs a second win after the Knights pulled to within a point (8-7) on a combined block by WPC's twins Mikaela and Nicole Lisoski.
The Cavs continued its efficient attack in the third, striking for 16 kills against just five errors for a .306 hit rate. The Knights held a brief two-point lead at 6-4 with a Janessa White kill that prompted a CU timeout.
Concordia quickly erased the shortfall, taking the lead with a 6-1 run before going on to claim the nine-point win.
Lindsey Dorsey (Salem, Ore./Sprague H.S.) led all players with 13 kills, one more than teammate Brianna Hogan (Portland, Ore./Centennial H.S.). Jenessa Taylor (Beaverton, Ore./Sunset H.S.) finished the night with 37 assists on CU's 44 kills. Shantel Gritsch (Gresham, Ore./Clackamas H.S.) led the match with 11 digs and added two assists of her own. White paced the WPC offense with 11 kills.