Barth, Dorsey deliver as Concordia bounces Evergreen

9/6/2014 7:36:00 PM

PORTLAND, Ore.—Mirroring its match from a day ago, Concordia fought off a slow start to defeat Evergreen State 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-17) in Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball action on Saturday night.

With the win, Concordia improved to 5-4 on the season and 2-0 in the CCC. Evergreen, which has already surpassed its win total from last season, fell to 9-4 on the year following a weekend split.

Concordia will return to action next week by traveling to Northwest Christian and Corban. Evergreen, meanwhile, will host non-conference for Pacific Lutheran in a mid-week tilt before entertaining Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho over the weekend.

Freshman Lindsey Dorsey (Salem, Ore./Sprague H.S.) provided the bulk of the Concordia attack against the Geoducks, striking for 17 kills on 39 swings (.256).

Both teams finished with a solid hitting percentage with Concordia edging Evergreen .285 to .258. Tallying a match-high with 20 kills, Brandee Victorino recorded nearly half of the Geoduck kill output while trying to knock off its second straight opponent on the road.

Six of those 20 kills came in the first set as Victorino helped Evergreen to a wire-to-wire win.

Holding a 7-6 lead in the second, the CU offense produced its most efficient set, hitting .333 for the stanza, to pull away for the eight-point win.

Evergreen snared the first point of the third set, but the advantage would be short-lived as a -/032 attack rate doomed the Geoducks' chances of retaking the overall lead.

Looking to even the match at 2-2 in the fourth set, Evergreen stayed within a pair of points following a Victorino kill at 15-13, but the home side remained collected with Dorsey added seven kills in the finale to preserve its home court.

In a rare occurrence, Concordia was outdug in the match, 60-55, but made a big impact on the front line as CU registered 11 blocks on the night, nine of which came from Nicole Barth (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview H.S.), another freshman.

Victorino shared match-high honors with teammate Natimia Barker-Doss while Shantel Gritsch (Gresham, Ore./Clackamas H.S.) (12), Leslie Hanks (Hockinson, Wash./Hockinson H.S.) (11) and Kelsie Christensen (Clackamas Ore./Clackamas H.S.) (10) gave the Cavs three players in double figures.