Dominating Win, Close Loss for Evergreen
BUTTE, Mont. – Continuing to show improvement in the early stages of the 2018 season, the Evergreen volleyball team split its two matches on Friday at the Big Sky Challenge hosted by Montana Tech.
The Geoducks (1-6) opened their tournament action in the morning by rallying from behind to take No. 12-ranked Montana Tech to a fifth set before falling 25-17, 27-25, 17-25, 21-25, 15-12, and then came back in the late afternoon to sweep aside Montana-Western, 25-13, 25-17, 25-20. "It was awesome. We are jelling better," Evergreen head coach Angela Spoja said.
Montana Tech 3, Evergreen 2
Montana Tech got off to a quick start against Evergreen with 18 kills and a .536 kill percentage in the opening set and 18 more kills and a .282 mark in the second. The Geoducks, on the other hand, combined for 21 kills in the first two sets, but they started to gain some momentum in the second set that they carried into the next two.
While Tech dropped off in the third and fourth sets, due in large part to a stingy Evergreen defense, the Geoducks played some of their best offensive volleyball of the season, picking up the pace significantly with 28 total kills and .265 and .237 attack percentages.
That led to the deciding fifth set. The tournament hosts got off to a quick start, leading 13-7 before a final rally by Evergreen fell just short.
Lehualani Keka and Renita Gray both had 14 kills to lead the Geoducks, followed by Natalie Taylor with 13 kills, 13 digs and four service aces. Alexis Garrison led the team with 17 digs and Sierra Wolff contributed 44 assists.
Evergreen finished the match with a .215 team attack percentage.
Evergreen 3, Montana-Western 0
Evergreen got its first win of the season in dominating fashion, hitting .236 as a team and recording nine team blocks, a major contributor to UMW's .059 attack percentage.
The Geoducks had their most balanced offensive production of the young season with four players contributing double figures in kills. Gray again led the way, this time with 13 finishes, while Keka, Taylor and Chloee Hunt all had 10 kills.
Taylor, Evergreen's record-setting senior outside hitter, put together her best match of the season by adding a .346 attack percentage, 12 digs and three more service aces to her totals. Freshman setter Wolff had her best statistical performance with 39 assists.
Evergreen's defense was equally stellar in this match. The front line effort was led by Tasha Hungate with one solo block and five block assists, while Garrison was all over the back row with 24 digs, followed by Kathleena Ly with 13.
The Geoducks play two times on Saturday's final day of the Big Sky Challenge, meeting University of Providence at 9 a.m. and Dickinson State University at 3 p.m., both starts Mountain Time. Evergreen volleyball fans can follow the action via live video and live stats by clicking
here.