Chloee Hunt and Natalie Taylor
Youthful Geoducks Fall to Eagles in Five Sets
OLYMPIA – Missing two of its starting players, The Evergreen State College battled on nearly even terms with No. 20-ranked Northwest University before the visiting Eagles took a 24-26, 25-14, 20-25, 25-17, 15-13 Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball win on Thursday night in Costantino Recreation Center.
With senior middle Jorden Porter missing because of class and junior libero Cheyenne Baird undergoing knee surgery, the Geoducks (3-12 overall, 2-7 CCC) had five freshmen see significant action in the match. The team started well, winning the first set and gaining confidence and momentum that led to a five-set thriller against the Eagles (10-4, 7-2).
Evergreen hit its best of the night at .250 in the first set, including five kills and no errors in seven attacks by Chloee Hunt. Natalie Taylor added five kills and the Geoducks piled up three team blocks, including three block assists by Renita Gray and two more by Hunt. There were 11 ties and four leads changes in the opening set and neither team led by more than three points. Evergreen took a 24-21 lead on Taylor’s kill, only to see the Eagles score three straight points, including consecutive kills by Michal Bilger, to tie it at 24-24. The Geoducks finally closed out the set on consecutive errors by the Eagles.
Northwest got on top of the Geoducks early in the second set and the youthful hosts couldn’t get the offense going, hitting -.100 with only five kills and eight errors.
Much like the Eagles taking control in the second set, Evergreen had the visitors’ number in the third set. Northwest scored the first point on a Hannah Hanson kill, the Geoducks tied it on a Taylor kill, and then the hosts rattled off three more points on an ace by Megan Breckenridge and consecutive finishes by Matisse Davis and Hunt. Evergreen led by as many as six points before settling for the 25-20 win. Taylor was outstanding in that set with seven kills, though the Eagles were impressive at the net with four team blocks, including a solo block and two block assists by Mattie Jo Johnson.
Evergreen had another negative attack percentage in the fourth set, which had two early lead changes. Leia Roy had two service aces and Johnson added three kills to pace Northwest in that set.
The final set was the closest of all with eight ties and five lead changes. Evergreen got off to a 2-0 lead on kills by Kylie Kytan and Taylor, but Northwest battled back to take a 5-4 advantage when Johnson and Dakota Adams came up with a big block. The teams traded points, neither leading by more than one, until back-to-back kills by Sarah Warner and Lara Linden put the Eagles on top, 14-12.
Evergreen got one back on a kill by Taylor, but Adams finished it off with a kill, her third of the set in six attempts.
The Geoducks hit .073 as a team and Taylor finished with a season-high 22 kills. Hunt added 13 kills for the hosts, who also got 35 assists from Kytan and 22 digs from Breckenridge. Evergreen had 11.5 team blocks including six block assists from Gray, five assists from Hunt and four from Taylor. Mya Voeller led all players with four aces.
Northwest hit .149 and had five players with at least eight kills each, led by Bilger with 11 and Amanda Waterman with 10. Morgan Pilon moved the ball around in compiling 46 assists, while Waterman finished with 22 digs and Roy with 20 more. The Eagles had 12 team blocks, led by Johnson with one solo and six block assists.
Evergreen returns to action at 5 p.m. Sunday when it plays at Walla Walla University.