Block You Very Much! Geoducks Stop Corban in Four
Chloee Hunt obliterated the Evergreen volleyball single-match record for blocks as the Geoducks stunned defending conference champion Corban, 17-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23, in a Cascade Collegiate Conference match played Saturday in front of a boisterous crowd inside Costantino Recreation Center.
With the victory, the Geoducks improve to 5-7 overall and to 3-0 in the conference, which marks the first time since the program started in 2001 that an Evergreen volleyball team has won its first three conference games.
Hunt, a junior middle blocker from Astoria, Ore., recorded one solo block and 11 block assists for a total of 12 blocks to shatter the former record of seven total blocks held by a number of individuals. Lehualani Keka had six block assists and Natalie Taylor added five as Evergreen finished with 15 team blocks in a match where defense outshone offense.
"We've been working on our blocking for two years now and it's great to see it pay off. It's been paying off for us for the last three or four matches and I think it's just going to get better," Evergreen head coach Angela Spoja said. "It's huge because it takes hitters out of their game."
The visiting Warriors (7-6, 3-1 and receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 national poll) made the most of four kills from Adriana Aguayo and three more from Tori Edwards, both without an error, to win the first set and gain the early momentum. They scored the first three points and never trailed the remainder of the set as the Geoducks got within a point only once at 8-7. Evergreen certainly didn't help its own cause with a -.065 attack percentage on six kills and eight attack errors. The Geoducks did put up four blocks in the set, however, which set a tone for the rest of the match.
The hosts took the early lead and kept it throughout the second set, building six-point margins on a couple of occasions before Corban put together a late rally to get within a point at 24-23. Evergreen closed out the set on a Corban attack error, and the two teams were knotted at a set apiece.
There were two ties and two lead changes early in the third set, but consecutive service aces by Keka broke a 5-5 tie and gave the Geoducks the momentum. They led by as many as 10 points before settling for the six-point victory to take a 2-1 set advantage.
The fourth set had five ties and three lead changes and featured several scoring streaks. The Warriors gained the early advantage, riding the serve of Lauren Condon to a 5-0 lead, but Evergreen battled back and eventually moved into a 10-9 lead on a service ace by Natalie Taylor. Corban replied by scoring six of the next seven points to take a 16-11 margin before Evergreen tied it again at 19-19. Trailing 22-20, the Geoducks scored five of the last six points, including three Corban attack errors and kills from Hunt and Taylor.
Neither team hit the ball particularly well, the Geoducks finishing at a .158 attack rate compared to .132 for the Warriors. Keka had 15 kills, three service aces and hit .343 for Evergreen, which also got 12 kills and a .370 mark from Hunt and 10 more kills from Taylor. Sierra Wolff finished the match with 37 assists, and Kathleena Ly led the team with 14 digs.
Adriana Aguayo finished with a team-high 13 kills for the Warriors, who also got a match-best 25 digs from Kealani Otani
“It's definitely one of our biggest wins,” Spoja said. “We knew we could do it, and I still don't think we played particularly well but our blocking game was strong. We knew we could win tonight and I’m glad we showed that to people.”
Evergreen returns to action at 7 p.m. Thursday when it plays at Walla Walla University in College Place.