Evergreen Offense Impressive in Win Over Dickinson State
BUTTE, Mont. – Evergreen put together an impressive overall performance Saturday afternoon to beat Dickinson State (N.D.) in five sets in its closing match at the Big Sky Volleyball Challenge hosted by Montana Tech.
The Geoducks (2-7) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to top the Blue Hawks, 22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-9, 15-8, that after they had dropped a 25-19, 25-18, 25-21 decision to Providence in an early morning contest.
Providence 3, Evergreen 0
The Argos got their offense going early, hitting .407 in the first set to establish the tone. They ended up at .347 for the match, including a .667 mark and 15 kills by Sydney Andersen.
Evergreen had a solid performance in the contest with a .194 team attack percentage, including a .318 percentage and nine kills from Lehualani Keka and a .250 mark and 10 finishes for Natalie Taylor. Sierra Wolff was solid in distributing the ball, ending the match with 30 assists.
The Geoducks collected seven team blocks, two more than Providence, with Chloee Hunt managing two solo blocks and two block assists.
Evergreen 3, Dickinson State 2
Evergreen finished the afternoon match with 72 kills and 19 errors on 158 attempts for a .335 attack percentage, the program's best in a match since the 2014 Geoducks hit .405 in a victory at Pacific (Ore.). This year's Geoducks were particularly outstanding in the latter stages of the afternoon match, hitting .583 in dominating the fourth set, and an even better .588 in sweeping away the Blue Hawks in the deciding set.
Wolff, a freshman setter from Caldwell, Idaho, moved into second on the Evergreen single-match assist list with 65 in directing the offense against Dickinson State.
Outside hitters Taylor and Keka were virtually unstoppable against the North Dakota school, Taylor finishing with 25 kills and a .426 attack rate and Keka ending up with 22 kills and a .409 mark. Renita Gray gave the Geoducks a third player in double-digit kills with 12.
The defense was stellar with 13.5 team blocks, including seven block assists by Tasha Hungate, six from Hunt and five more from Keka. Alexis Garrison led the team with 20 digs, followed by Kathleena Ly with 13 and Taylor with 12. Lexi Sanchez finished the match with three service aces.
The Geoducks had several players finish among the Big Sky Volleyball Challenge statistical leaders including Wolff pacing all setters with 11.12 assists per set. Keka and Taylor both finished in the top five in attack percentage and kills per set, and Hungate was third in blocks per set.
Evergreen hosts Pacific Lutheran in a scrimmage at 7 p.m. Wednesday before opening Cascade Collegiate Conference play at 5 p.m. next Saturday, Sept. 1, against No. 24-ranked Northwest University in Kirkland.