SALEM, Ore. – The NAIA's No. 14-ranked Corban University women's volleyball team completed a Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) weekend sweep over Lewis-Clark State College winning in straight sets, 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-17), Saturday evening inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
"After last night's match, we needed to make adjustments to our blocking scheme with LC State's offense," said head coach
Kim McLain. "I was proud of how quickly the team was able to adjust and make a difference at the net defensively tonight."
With the win, Corban improves to 9-1 overall and an identical 9-1 mark in conference matches. The Warriors remain one game behind conference-leading Eastern Oregon and sit four games ahead of a trio of teams for second place. Meanwhile, Lewis-Clark State evens its overall and conference records at 5-5.
The Navy and Gold would rely on a balanced offensive attack getting at least five kills from five different players led by Rylee Troutman's team-best nine kills, while Sarena Bartley and a pair of Warriors – Cora Furman and Aly Tow – added 7, 6, and 6 kills, respectively. Avari Ridgway would round out the quintet with five kills, while Ciarra Judson and Jadyn Mullen combined to hand out 28 assists to run Corban's offense. Defensively, Kealani Ontai led the Warriors with 11 digs to go along with seven blocks from Allyson Reid and six blocks each by Furman and Tow. At the net, Corban combined to register 13 blocks compared to Lewis-Clark State's two.
The opening set started as a back-and-forth attack until the score was tied at 4-4. After the deadlock, Corban used a 6-1 run that included a pair of kills by Bartley to take a 10-5 advantage. The host Warriors would extend their lead to six points (13-7) on a combo block by Reid and Ridgway before pushing its advantage to seven points (17-10) on a kill by Tow. Lewis-Clark State would get within four points (18-14) before Corban extended its lead to 24-17 on another Tow kill. Lewis-Clark State would score two straight points to pull within 24-19 before the host Warriors were privy to a LC State service error that led to a 25-19 victory.
Set #2 began with Corban securing a 6-2 lead early. Lewis-Clark State would use an 7-4 run to get within a single point (10-9) before Troutman took over. The first-year Warrior registered a kill making the score 11-9 before moving behind the service line and rattled off seven straight points capped by a service ace to make the score 18-9 in favor of the home team. Despite a valiant effort by Lewis-Clark State, Corban never looked back running out to a 25-17 victory.
The third and final set once again began with a Corban pushing its early advantage to 6-2. Three straight points by Lewis-Clark State would get the visiting Warriors within a single point (6-5) before the Navy and Gold extended its lead to 12-7 on a LC State attack error. After a Corban service error, the host Warriors used a mini 4-0 run to pull ahead 16-8 on a service ace by Ontai. The Navy and Gold pushed their lead to eight points (20-12) before extending it to 22-14 on another LC State attack error. Both teams would trade points until the end when Corban took advantage of another Lewis-Clark State attack error to secure the 25-17 victory and three-set sweep.
Lewis-Clark State was led offensively by Chloe Emory with a match-high 12 kills, while Tori Edwards and Carli Berntson added six and five kills, respectively. The visiting Warriors were guided by Hannah Martinez with a match-high 26 assists, while Kenzie Dean led Lewis-Clark State's defense with a match-high 13 digs.
Corban will return to the court on Friday, March 26, in what could be titled the "NAIA Match of the Week" against No. 8-ranked Eastern Oregon University beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.