Corban won in straight sets on Saturday to finish off the 2018 regular season. (Photo Credit: Doug Pfeiler)
SALEM, Ore. – Leaving no doubts from the very first serve, the No. 22-ranked Corban University volleyball team closed out the 2018 regular season with a straight-set triumph over Oregon Tech on Saturday night (25-17, 25-16, 25-18). The victory puts Corban as the No. 4 seed in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament, as the Warriors will host No. 5-seeded Northwest University on Tuesday night.
"I am proud of the way the girls came out to play tonight," said Corban head coach Kim McLain. "It is always great to get a win in the tough CCC!"
Hitting at a .371 clip on the night, the Warriors rode the early wave of momentum into the comfortable first-set victory. While Oregon Tech responded and actually took an early lead in the second stanza, the Warriors bounced back quickly, regaining the lead and finished off the Owls with a strong closing to set two. The final set was never in doubt, as the Warriors maintained their dominance, finishing off the sweep of Oregon Tech (12-15, 7-13 CCC).
The scores in each set were quite indicative of how the match went statistically as well, as the Warriors recorded more aces, blocks, assists, digs, and kills on the evening.
It was a total team effort for the Navy and Gold, as not one player tallied double-digit kill numbers, but Tori Edwards led the way with nine for Corban on a .400 attacking clip. Adriana Aguayo was also very effective for the Warriors, hitting .500 on the evening with eight kills, while Avari Ridgway, Demi Winters, and Regan Murray all tallied six kills for Corban.
Defensively, Kealani Ontai continued to show why she is one of the best defensive players in the CCC, totaling 15 digs in the straight-set win.
Cierra Leopoldino dished out a team-best 23 assists, while Jadyn Mullen recorded 13. At the net, the Warriors racked up 16 blocks assists, with Winters and Murray combining for 10 between the two.
For Oregon Tech in its season-ending defeat, Chase Bohman tallied 10 kills, while Ireland Bennett totaled nine kills for the Owls.
No. 4-seeded Corban (19-10, 15-5 CCC) returns to the court on Tuesday night when it hosts No. 5-seeded Northwest University in a CCC Tournament Quarterfinal. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.