Down Two Sets, Geoducks Come Back for Win
PORTLAND, Ore. - Facing a two-set deficit Friday night, Evergreen roared back to defeat Warner Pacific, 22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 16-14, in Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball action at CC Perry Gymnasium.
Natalie Taylor pounded 21 kills, Sierra Wolff had 43 assists and Chloee Hunt had nine block assists to lead the Geoducks (8-10 overall, 6-3 CCC). Hunt's outstanding work at the net – the nine blocks ranks second to her own school record 12 on the Evergreen volleyball single-match list – helped the visitors to a total of 16 team blocks.
Warner Pacific (4-10, 3-6) looked like the team to beat in the early going, taking the first two sets in front of its home crowd. The Knights continued that momentum into what looked to be the third-and-final set, running off nine consecutive points to turn an 11-8 third-set deficit into a seemingly insurmountable 17-11 advantage.
Evergreen would have none of that, closing the deficit and then running off four straight points – including kills by Hunt and Wolfe and a combined block by the two – to take a 23-20 lead. The 24th point came on another Hunt and Wolfe combo block, and Renita Gray finished it to give the Geoducks the set.
That would set the tone for the remainder of the match.
The visitors opened the fourth set with five straight points, including two kills by Gray, and Warner Pacific never got closer than three points the rest of the way. Gray, again, closed the set with a kill to make it 2-all.
Warner Pacific took the upper hand in the fifth set, leading 10-7 before Evergreen scored four of the next five points to tie the score at 11-11. The Knight responded with two straight points, but again the Geoducks were not done. They ran off three straight points on kills by Taylor and Hunt and a combo block by the same pair. With the score 14-14, Taylor put down her 21st kill and Warner Pacific missed on its next attack, giving the Geoducks what had earlier seemed like a very unlikely victory.
In addition to her 21 kills, Taylor added five block assists and she was one of five Geoducks to finish in double figures in digs. Emma Goodman led in that last category with 18 digs. Hunt finished with 10 kills in addition to her blocks, and Gray ended the match with 14 kills.
The Geoducks hit .168 as a team compared to .134 for the Knights, who got a career-high 28 kills Melisa Ljuca and 36 digs by Meghan Turner.
Evergreen closes out the first half of the conference season at 5 p.m. tomorrow against the host Multnomah Lions.