Senior Night Success, Lady Yotes Stop Corban in Four
CALDWELL, Idaho – Jackie van Vliet had 14 kills and eight blocks, highlighting Senior Night for the College of Idaho, as the Lady Yotes earned a key four-set victory over Corban University inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
All five seniors for the Lady Yotes (19-7, 14-4 CCC) contributed in the 25-17, 25-15, 22-25, 25-23 victory, who clinched at worst a home quarterfinal date in the Cascade Conference Championships.
C of I recorded 12 team blocks in the win – with the squad hitting at a .263 percentage – while limiting the Warriors (16-10, 12-5) to a .108 hitting clip.
The Yotes dominated the first two sets – getting a pair of aces by senior Zuri Meehan in a 10-4 surge to open the match and added a four-point push late in the period after Corban cut the margin to 19-16. C of I got two kills from both Taylor Alexander and Ashley Pagan in an 8-1 run in Set 2 to blow open a close set.
C of I looked to close out the match in three sets, scoring eight of the first nine points in Set 3 – including consecutive combo-blocks from Austyn Mauzy and van Vliet. Trailing 17-11, a Demi Winter spike started a 12-3 run, capped by consecutive Adriana Aguayo kills – with Aguayo ending the set with a drive down the line.
Both teams traded leads in Set 4, with the Yotes taking an 18-12 edge on a van Vliet kill. The Warriors responded – as back-to-back Jadyn Mullen aces helped the visitors get even at 23-23. C of I earned a key side out on a kill from Kaydre Thompson, with Pagan ending the match with a cross-court kill after a length rally.
Pagan had 12 kills and 20 digs, Thompson had seven kills and four blocks and Drew Dobney recorded a match-high 23 digs.
The seniors were the key – as along with van Vliet, Alexander had 12 kills, Marija Djonovic had 29 assists, Sawyer logged four kills and two blocks, Meehan led the team with three aces.
Aguyao led the Warriors with nine kills and Cassie Cunningham had eight kills.
C of I hits the road to close out the regular season with matches next week at Eastern Oregon and Walla Walla.