Geoducks Find Balance...and a Victory
The Evergreen State College finally got the upset victory it has been so close to earning several times this season, beating third-place Northwest Christian in four sets in a Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball match played Saturday night inside Costantino Recreation Center.
The Geoducks won the match by set scores of 20-25, 27-25, 25-16, 25-13.
Evergreen (7-13 overall, 4-9 CCC) used a balanced attack on offense and stellar play on the back row to pick up the victory, and at the same time push aside the frustration of five five-set losses through the first 11 matches of the conference season.
Bethanie Nelson and Natalie Taylor both finished with 12 kills, Lehualani Keka had 10, followed by Chloee Hunt with nine and Renita Gray with eight. But it was the back row defense that really shined. Megan Breckenridge led the way with 21 digs, followed by Tori Wegdahl and Cheyenne Baird with 19 apiece and Taylor with 14.
Most impressive was freshman setter Matalasi Laban, who finished the match with 46 assists while also contributing seven kills and no errors on nine attempts.
"I think we finally put it together with all of the parts," Evergreen head coach Angela Spoja said. "We've had many nights with one or two people having great games, but tonight we had four defenders in double numbers and three hitters in double digits. That makes a huge difference."
Evergreen had to rally from a deficit as Northwest Christian won the opening set, 25-20, behind four team blocks which helped contribute to 11 Geoducks attack errors. Northwest Christian broke away from a 16-16 tie with five straight points, highlighted by two Kasey Campbell kills and a Haley Damian service ace, to wrest control of the set that had 11 ties and five lead changes.
The second set was even tighter with 18 ties and 11 lead changes. Neither team led by more than two points at any time during the set, and the Geoducks held off two set points late on kills by Lehualani Keka and Natalie Taylor. Evergreen eventually scored the final two points on consecutive errors by the Beacons. An indication of the team's balance was seen in that set as Keka, Taylor and Gray all recorded four kills.
With the momentum on their side, the Geoducks dominated the final two sets. There were five ties in the first 10 points of the third set before Evergreen broke away, scoring six of the next seven points to establish a lead that they would not relinquish. Nelson had six of her kills in that set to lead Evergreen to a .278 attack percentage.
The fourth set was even more impressive as the Geoducks led all the way while hitting .371, led by Taylor with six kills and no errors on 13 attempts.
Evergreen hit .210 for the match, including a .346 mark by Nelson.
Northwest Christian, one of the conference's best defensive teams, had eight team blocks, including five block assists by Megan Van Marter and four by Natalie Downes. Campbell was the kill leader with 10, Maci Beierle had 32 assists and Haley Damian led all players with 23 digs. The Beacons ended the match with a .159 attack percentage.
The Geoducks play their final non-conference match of the season starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday when they face Saint Martin's in Lacey.