SPOKANE, Wash. – A pair of impressive victories got the 2014 season off to the right pace as the Evergreen Geoducks earned wins over Montana Western and MSU-Northern to improve to 2-0 on the first day of the Sport Travel Northwest Invitational at The HUB Sports Center in Spokane, Wash.
Evergreen 3, Montana Western 1
In the first match of the game, the Geoducks used a seven-point swing in the first set to pull ahead of the Bulldogs as Evergreen continued to cruise to a set one win, 25-18, hitting .419 with 15 kills and just two errors on 31 total attacks.
UMW kept things tighter in the second set but another run, this time five points, gave Evergreen the advantage as the Geoducks took the 2-0 match lead with a 25-22 set two win.
It looked certain that the Bulldogs were going to earn an easy win in the third set but the Geoducks rattled off four straight under match-point to even the score at 24-24. The two squads battled back and Western held on for the 33-31 set three win to force a fourth set.
In the fourth set, Evergreen took the lead midway through the frame and did what they had to do to put the Bulldogs down, using at 25-21 set win to clinch the match, 3-1.
Evergreen was led by 14 kills from senior Brandee Victorino, hitting .522 on the morning with just two errors on 23 total swings. Nicole Diehl added 13 kills while Ivy Eakes finished with 12. Brandy Iverson rounded out the Geoducks in double-digits with 10 kills on 17 total attacks. Senior Jaclyn Trinque was solid in her first match as Geoduck setter, finishing with 59 assists on 67 Evergreen kills.
Montana Western was led by 11 kills from Emily Erickson and 10 from Breanne Kelley. Paige Latimer led the Bulldogs with 38 assists on the match. UMW hit just .101 on the match, compared with .273 for Evergreen.
Evergreen 3, MSU-Northern 0
Moving from one court to another with less than 15 minutes between matches didn't seem to affect the Geoducks in their second match as they battled to a sweep over the Lights with no set decided by more than three points.
The Geoducks sprinted out of the gate in the first set, building a double-digit lead at 17-7 but MSUN fought back to pull within two points at 19-17. The Lights eventually tied things up at 24-24 but a MSUN attack error followed by a Diehl kill gave the Geoducks the 26-24 set one win.
The second set went back and forth as Northern looked to be in control, leading 23-19 but six straight Geoducks points, including a pair of kills from Eakes, gave Evergreen a 25-23 set two win as they moved towards their first sweep of 2014.
Riding the momentum of the second set, the Geoducks scored the first seven points of the third frame as the Lights found themselves behind yet again. MSUN eventually found their way back in the contest but it was too little, too late as Evergreen earned a 25-22 set three win to complete the sweep and move to 2-0 on the young season.
Evergreen was led by 10 kills each from Victorino and Molly King. Trinque added 40 assists to her season total as the Geoducks hit .240 on the match, connecting for 46 kills with 16 errors on 125 total attacks.
Northern was led by 15 kills from Dayna Jenson. Janelle Hoff put up 23 assists in sets one and three while Jaden Lynch earned 14 assists in set two. MSUN hit .200 on the match, connecting for 42 kills with 21 errors on 105 total swings.
The Geoducks are back in action on Friday, taking on Westminster at 2 p.m. and Walla Walla at 6 p.m.