PORTLAND, Ore.— The Concordia volleyball team defeated Pacific 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-12) in its first home match of the season on Wednesday night.

 

With the win, Concordia improved to 2-4 on the season while the match represented the season opener for the Boxers. The game represented an avenging bout of sorts as, the two teams battled each other last season in Pacific’s season opener with the Boxers edging the Cavaliers 3-2.

 

The Cavs got off to a strong start in all three games as Concordia never trailed in the match.

 

The home side took a 5-0 lead in the opening game with the benefit of a pair of aces from Sara Harper (Fr., OH). Back-to-back kills from Erika Doremus (Sr., OH) pushed the CU lead to 14-3 before taking the opener by the 25-14 margin.

 

Lindsay Mangan opened the second game with an ace before Pacific’s Kelsy Takashima (Jr., OH) swung for a kill to square the match at 1-1. The Boxers would stay within striking distance as Takashima and Keahi Braginsky-Ahloo (Fr., OH) combined for eight kills to climb to within a 16-15 gap.

 

With CU outhitting Pacific .222 to .083, the Cavs were able to hold off the charge behind the strength of four kills by senior hitter Raluca Dinca.

 

Much like the game before, the third frame began with the two teams trading points as Melanie Miller (Fr., OPP) led off with one of her three kills on the evening before an attacking error evened the game at 1-1.

 

From there the Cavs would post six straight points with kills by Dinca, Miller and Clair Thiel (Jr., MH) to take a commanding lead which would culminate with consecutive blocks by Mariah Raudsepp (Fr., MH) and Cassandra Koering (Jr., MH) to give CU a 25-12 win to complete the sweep.

Dinca led the Cavs with 12 kills while Aubrie Concannon (Fr., DS) and Aria Nojima (So., DS) each reached double figured in digs with Concannon edging her teammate 13-10. Lindsay Mangan (Fr., S) finished with a match-high 27 assists after registering nine assists in each game.

 

With a dozen kills, Takashima tied Dinca for the match-high. Teammate Jade Thompson (So., L) tallied a match-high 17 digs while teammate Danica Thompson (Fr., S) led the Boxers with 20 assists.

 

Concordia returns to action on Friday when it opens its Cascade Collegiate Conference season by hosting Oregon Tech. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m.