ANGWIN, Calif. – The Warrior women carried the momentum from Thursday's victory into a pair of matches on Friday. LC State Volleyball earned two wins, both coming in three sets over Pacific Union (Calif.) (25-20, 25-20, 25-14) and Simpson (Calif.) (25-20, 25-23, 25-19).
Lewis-Clark State improves to 3-0 on the season and wraps up the NorCal trip with two matches on Saturday.
"We had many opportunities to respond today, so it's pretty cool walking away with a clean sweep," Head Coach
Shaun Pohlman said. "I still feel like we are only operating at 75 percent of our potential. I know what we are capable of, and it seems like if we get into a groove it is short lasting, but that is to be expected early in the season. Tomorrow is going to be stiff competition, so I am looking forward to seeing how the team comes out to play."
MATCH ONE: LC State def. Pacific Union 3-0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-14)
Jada Wyms put LC State on the board with a block, then a kill by Lisi Langi and service ace by Cassidy Nelson gave the Warriors a 5-2 advantage. Langi sparked a four-point run, fueled by PUC errors and a kill by Channa Hart, to stretch the lead to 9-4 in the opening frame.
A kill by Nelson stretched the margin to 16-10 and Grecia Ung Enriquez made it 18-11 shortly after with a big swing. The momentum continued for the Warriors with a kill by Juliauna Forgach Aguilar at 20-12, and a sneaky kill by setter Esther Kailiponi ended the set 25-20.
Ung Enriquez put LC in front in the second on an acrobatic assist by Kenzie Dean to make it 6-5. A kill by Hallie Seaman aided a run of five that was capped by an ace from Jennah Carpenter. Kills by Forgach Aguilar and Josie Peters moved the lead to 13-9, but a string of service aces put PUC in front 15-14. Back-to-back kills by Nelson put the Warriors in the lead before Langi made it 17-15.
Nelson dealt two straight service aces to grow the advantage to 21-16, and kills by Ung Enriquez and Seaman pushed the score to set point before a PUC attack error ended it at 25-20.
Langi tallied the first kill of the third frame, then went back-to-back with Wyms to tie the set 3-3. Ung Enriquez added a pair of kills to keep LC within one before a service ace by Carpenter tied things up 6-6. Wyms started a three-point run, capped by an ace by Kierstyn York and a kill by Nelson to force PUC to the bench.
Two more swings by Nelson aided another scoring run for the Warriors at 18-9, and errors by the Pioneers kept the set moving. Kailiponi tallied a kill to make it a five-point run (21-9). Back-to-back kills by Langi and Peters pushed the cushion to 23-12, and a block by York and Langi ended the set 25-14.
MATCH TWO: LC State def. Simpson 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-19)
A pair of Simpson service errors gave LC State a quick 2-1 lead in the first set, and a kill by Ung Enriquez capped the three-point stretch. Swings by Wyms and Nelson keep the Warriors in front until a run by the Red Hawks had the set at a 10-10 tie.
A slew of attack errors by Simpson pushed the LC lead out to 14-11. Nelson added a kill to start a four-point rally with a block by Langi and Hart, kill by Hart and an ace dealt by Kailiponi. The Warriors took the set 25-20.
The second set was a hard-fought back and forth battle. Nelson and Hart denied Simpson at the net for the first Warrior point. Kills by Ung Enriquez, Langi and Wyms kept LC close before back-to-back kills by Nelson tied things up 14-14. The Warriors matched Red Hawks runs to force a timeout at 20-20.
Simpson came out of the pause with momentum to take a 22-20 lead, but a kill by Wyms and another Simpson error knotted the score once against at 22-22. Wyms and Nelson brought the set within a point of ending, and Wyms threw down the final kill of the frame for a 25-23 final to give LC a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set began as the second had ended with the lead changing hands multiple times. The Warriors utilized kills from Forgach Aguilar and Ung Enriquez to maintain a slight edge over Simpson until errors by the Red Hawks grew the difference to three points at 18-15.
Three straight kills by Langi, York and Ung Enriquez put LC State in the driver's seat with a score of 22-18, and two Simpson errors ended the match.
Nelson led the team with 10 kills in the match, while Ung Enriquez and Wyms each tallied eight. Wyms' eight kills came on nine swings with no errors, and the senior put up three blocks. Full stats from both matches will be available at a later time.
LC State finishes the trip on Saturday in Atherton, Calif., with two matches. The Warriors will take on Menlo (Calif.) on its home court at 11 a.m. before facing UC Merced at 2 p.m. in a neutral-site matchup.
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