OLYMPIA, Wash. – Maybe it was home crowd jitters or a team still learning how to play with each other but once the Evergreen Geoducks got over whatever struck them early, there was no stopping them as the Geoducks earned a 3-1 win over the visiting Puget Sound Loggers in a non-conference volleyball match on Wednesday night at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.
In the first set, it was the Loggers showing their muscle as Puget Sound took the early lead. A 6-0 run tied the match up at 13-13 late but the Loggers took care of business down the stretch, going on a 6-1 run to win the first set, 25-19. UPS hit .300 on the frame, compared with just .179 for the host Geoducks.
Evergreen figured something out between sets as the Geoducks scored five of the first six points to take the early lead. UPS pulled within two points towards the middle of the frame but five straight points for the Geoducks put Evergreen in the driver's seat as the host team earned the 25-19 set two win to tie up the match.
The third set was back and forth all game as neither team built much of an advantage as the lead changed hands four times with nine tie scores. With the set tied at 24, the Geoducks took advantage of a pair of Puget Sound errors to earn the 26-24 lead.
Riding the momentum of the third set, Evergreen cruised out to a big lead early in the fourth and the Loggers couldn't find a way to stop the Geoduck attack. An 11-1 run put Evergreen up 19-6 and it would be easy the rest of the way as they cruised to the 25-11 set four win to clinch the match.
With the win, Evergreen matches their win total from a year ago, improving to 8-3 in 2014.
The Geoducks were led by 17 kills from Brandee Victorino, who also recorded six aces and 11 digs on the night. Molly King finished with 11 kills while senior setter Jaclyn Trinque put up 10 kills with 39 assists. Natimia Barker-Doss led the Evergreen back row, digging out 27 balls on the night. Evergreen hit .250 on the match, connecting for 60 kills with 23 errors on 148 total swings.
Puget Sound was led by 12 kills form Emily Convery. Moira McVicar added 17 assists while Kayla Thaller put up 15 assists for the Loggers. UPS hit just .137 on the match, connecting on 34 kills with 18 errors on 117 attacks.
Evergreen opens up Cascade Conference play on Friday night, traveling down to Portland to take on Warner Pacific. First serve with the Knights is set for 7 p.m. at C.C. Perry Gymnasium.