College Place, Wash. – The Lady Wolves hosted the Warner Pacific Knights on Thursday evening for their second and final matchup of the season. The Lady Wolves (0-14, 0-13 CCC) would claim their first set victory of the conference season, however the Knights (6-12, 5-8 CCC) would claim the match in four sets. (25-15, 12-25, 25-20 & 25-12)
In set one, the Knights would take advantage of free balls and open space to build an early 7-4 lead in the set. This run would force the Wolves to take their first timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Wolves and Knights would trade points until sophomore Sarah Halversen would pick up two quick aces to pull the Wolves within one point, 10-9. The Knights would answer by going on a 10-1 run to extend their lead, led by Red Lion Player of the Week Kealia Rosa. The Knights would hold off a Wolves rally and claim set one, 25-15.
In set two, the Wolves would start off strong and build an early 4-3 lead, however the Knights would put together a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead. The Wolves would respond by going on a 6-3 run to cut into the Knights lead, led by Halversen and Morgan Doyle kills. With the Wolves trailing 13-10, the Knights would ride a 12-2 run lead by Haley Yoder en route to a set two victory, 25-12.
Early on in set three, the Knights looked like they would run away with the set by building a quick 7-3 lead, however the scrappy Wolves would put together a 7-1 run to claim the lead, 10-8. The Knights would answer right back, putting together a 4-2 run to reclaim the lead. From here, the Knights and Wolves would exchange points back-and-forth as no team could extend their lead beyond two points. With the game knotted at 18, the Wolves would put together a 4-0 run and force the Knights to take a timeout. The Wolves would continue their momentum and claim the 25
th point of the set off a kill by Caldora Blackburn.
Set four would start with each team knotted up at four apiece. The Knights would put together the sets first run with a 5-1 run and force the Wolves to take a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Knights would continue their run by extending their lead over the Wolves to 14-6. The Wolves and Knights would trade points back-and-forth, however the Wolves could not overcome the Knights 13-1 run earlier in the set and would drop set four, 25-12 and lose 3-1 to the Knights.
Caldora Blackurn (10 kills-season high), Krista Schafer (19 assists), and Erika Dudar (14 digs) would lead the Wolves.
Melissa Ljucas (15 kills), Haley Yoder (13 kills), and Kealia Rosa (24 assists) would lead the Knights.
The Wolves look to rebound as they host the Lions of Multnomah University on Sunday afternoon. The match will start at 1:00 p.m. on Windemuth Court.
The Knights look to continue their winning streak, as they travel southeast down Interstate-84 to No. 17 Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, Ore. The match will take place on Friday, October 11 at 7:00 p.m. in Quinn Coliseum.