Corban won its eighth home match of the year in straight sets. (Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler)
SALEM, Ore. – Eight home matches. Eight home sweeps. The No. 15-ranked Corban University volleyball team swept Northwest Christian University on Friday evening (25-18, 26-24, 26-24), keeping its home record unblemished with eight sweeps of the eight opposing teams that have come to Salem.
"Tonight's match was a battle, as it came down to great passing in order to run our offense," said Corban head coach Kim McLain. "We had to be ready to read and react quickly defensively. I was proud of the girls how they stayed focused on our game plan and kept fighting to win the match."
Corban began the match well, hitting at a .447 clip in the first set en route to racking up 20 kills in the first stanza win. Set two was a battle between the two squads, and NCU actually hit for a better mark, but it was Corban that came up clutch in the end, winning by just the two points to take the two-set lead. It was a sign of things to come.
In the final set, NCU seemed to have all of the momentum late on and took a 24-22 lead, but the Warriors then staved off two set points to make it 24-24. Cierra Leopoldino finished off the match for the Warriors, serving a pair of aces to secure the straight-set triumph for the Navy and Gold.
The Beacons actually finished the match with 11 blocks, playing very well at the net. Corban tallied five team blocks on the evening, while defensively it was Lauren Condon who led the way with 14 digs. In addition, Haley Wells tallied 12 digs for Corban, while offensively, it was Madison Milligan keeping the offense flowing with 31 assists and Leopoldino with 14 assists.
Amber Parker racked up a team-best 14 kills, while Marandah Boeder was extremely efficient with 12 kills on a .435 attacking clip. Moreover, Alaina Gentili totaled 10 kills for the Warriors in the triumph.
For the Beacons, Megan Van Marter tallied a team-best 10 kills, while Maci Beierle registered 28 assists.
Corban (18-7, 13-3 CCC) returns to the court next Friday when it hosts No. 11-ranked Eastern Oregon University. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. in what is sure to be a pivotal match that will go a long way in deciding the CCC regular-season champion.