One of Waverly Green's 46 assists, as Oregon Tech defeated Walla Walla University tonight in four sets. (photo by Kelly Caleb)
Oregon Tech Bounces Walla Walla in Four
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – After a slow start to Oregon Tech’s only Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball match of the week, the Owls battled back from a loss in the opening set to bounce Walla Walla University 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-15) tonight at Danny Miles Court.
Oregon Tech ran their overall mark to 13-8 and 8-7 in CCC play. WWU fell to 6-15 on the year and 3-13 in the conference standings.
Mikayla Rubey gave Tech the lead to open set 1, but WWU raced out to a 12-6 lead. A kill from Alexa Burdett closed the Owls’ deficit to 13-12, but three in a row by the Wolves pushed their advantage to 16-12.
Tech, still behind by four, 23-19, scored four in a row to tie it at 23-all, but back-to-back miscues gave WWU the set, 25-23.
The Owls jumped out 7-3 to open set 2, only to see the Wolves notch seven straight and take a 10-7 lead.
Eight straight points by Tech, including three kills by Whitney Webster, two from Kelsey Sampson and one from Kristin DePaoli in the stretch, made it 15-10 on the way to a 25-19 win to tie the match at 1-1.
A pair of four point runs by Tech to open set 3 led to a 15-8 advantage. Back-to-back scores from Webster and Burdett gave the Owls a 10 point cushion, cruising to a 2-1 lead after the 25-17 win.
The Wolves marched out to a 5-3 lead in set 4, but Tech managed to take an 11-10 lead after a Burdett spike. The Owls would hold the lead throughout. Up 17-14, Tech would score the next eight of the nine points, including five kills from DePaoli in the spurt, to take the set 25-15 and match.
Alexa Burdett, Whitney Webster and Kristin DePaoli led the Owls offense with 12 kills apiece. Webster recorded a double-double with 10 digs, while Kelsey Sampson neared a double-double with nine kills to go with 10 digs. Brooke Molloy finished with a team-high 20 digs with Waverly Green coming away with 46 assists and 10 digs in the win.
WWU’s Maria Darling notched 12 kills and 12 digs, while Lexi Shanko followed with seven kills and 10 digs in the loss. Natalie Skeoch had six kills for the Wolves. Alissa Casey and Lauren Bosler combined for 31 assists with Rylee Sutton tallying a match-high 22 digs.
Oregon Tech will host their final two regular season CCC matches this Friday and Saturday playing host to College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon University.