FULLERTON, Calif. – After a 3-1 weekend to begin the season, the No. 7 Corban University Women’s Volleyball team (5-1, 0-0) needed no further motivation to impress on the main stage once again, sweeping right past the HIU Summer Slam hosts Hope International University (0-2, 0-0), before adding another NAIA Top 10 victory to their belts by downing the No. 8 Northwestern College Red Raiders (2-1, 0-0) in four sets.
“The team came ready to play today!” Warriors’ Head Coach Kim McLain delightfully shared. “I was proud of how they stayed focused and consistent throughout the day!”
The opening sweep of the Saints concluded with final set scores of 25-16, 25-16, and 25-14, while game two against the Red Raiders made it to a fourth set, but with the Warriors still earning the win by adding 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, and 25-16 set finals to their 2022 non-conference experience.
GAME 1
With the host school Saints on deck for their first match of the tournament, the Warriors needed to find a consistent offensive attack and steadfast defense to set the tone for the remainder of the tourney, which they found right off the bat in the first set against HIU.
After an impressive collegiate debut last weekend in Caldwell, Idaho, freshman opposite hitter Makayla Roginski began the HIU Summer Slam right where she left off, scoring four of Corban’s first seven points via kills. From there, the dynamic duo of outside hitters Avari Ridgway and Rylee Troutman took control for the Warriors, combining for nine kills to lead Corban to a 25-16 set one win.
The second set was a déjà vu period for the Warriors, as they managed to replicate a set one final score of 25-16 to take a 2-0 set advantage on the home team Saints. Hope International was able to hang within a point through the 7-6 Corban advantage, before the Warriors turned on the after-burners and ran a 5-1 swing in points, forcing an HIU timeout with the score in favor of Corban, 13-7.
With a possible sweep on the horizon, the Warriors were determined not to let Hope International back into this contest, but the Saints continued to hang around early in the third set. HIU crawled back to within three points in a 7-10 deficit for the Saints, but yet another Corban offensive onslaught pushed the lead back to six points, and forced Hope International Head Coach Jessica Yoder into calling another timeout.
The stoppage of play would prove to be ineffective once again for the Saints, as the Warriors went on a 13-7 run to stop Hope International from a possible comeback bid, and finish off a 25-15 final set score.
Ridgway far and away earned player of the game accolades, leading all players with 15 kills and three service aces, all while earning 12 digs to trail only each team’s defensive superstars. Senior Kealani Ontai, Corban’s star libero, led all players with 15 digs in the backcourt, and senior opposite hitter Ally Schmidt racked up a game-high six blocks, which tops her season mark.
Roginski and Troutman nearly reached the double-digit mark in kills for their third and fourth times in this early non-conference slate, with each recording nine and eight kills, respectfully. Senior setter Jadyn Mullen earned a game-high 20 assists in three sets started for the Warriors, and put in the work defensively for seven digs.
Hope International was led by outside hitter Cassidy Koffroth, who recorded team-highs in both kills (7) and digs (13). Setter Stacey Dawes dealt out 13 assists to her offense, and outside hitter Carissa Wiles recorded six kills and four digs.
GAME 2
The Warriors began set one of their Top 10 matchup with No. 8 Northwestern College much like they did earlier against Hope International, but the Red Raiders are not the same team as the Saints. Their offense is extremely difficult to defend and showed up early and often in the beginning of set number one.
However, Corban was able to hold ground late in the set, despite falling behind 17-19 and needing a timeout to alter the gameplan. Following that timeout, the Warriors went on an 8-3 run that included three-straight points to end the set at 25-22, thus giving Corban the early 1-0 set lead.
After falling behind 5-7 to open the second set, the Warriors kicked up the offensive intensity by scoring five straight points, and seven of the next nine to force Northwestern into taking a timeout, with the Warriors leading 13-9.
The Red Raiders weren’t finished though, as Northwestern would score six straight points after trailing 13-20, before eventually tying the game and taking the lead at 22-21, forcing Coach McLain to call her first timeout of the set.
This time, a late timeout did not prove to provide the shakeup needed to turn this around for the Warriors, as Northwestern would score three of the next five points to take set two by a final score of 25-23 and forcing the 1-1 set tie.
Set three would prove to be another closely contested period, but not before Corban would begin the period on a 13-6 run and force Northwestern to utilize both of their timeouts. The Red Raiders hung around though, closing in enough to tie the set at 22-all, before Troutman and Roginski scored kills on three of the next four points to provide the Warriors with a 25-23 set three win, just one set away from taking the match.
The fourth set began in an eerily similar fashion to set three, with the Warriors taking a commanding 15-8 lead, forcing the Red Raiders into calling both of their timeouts for the set. Nonetheless, much to the dismay of those garnering the Red Raider deep red colors at Darling Pavilion tonight, the Northwestern comeback bid would fall short this time, as Corban ran a nearly even 10-8 point spread the remainder of the set to clinch yet another NAIA Top 10 victory.
“Northwestern is a great team and very well coached,” McLain said when asked to share her thoughts on another NAIA Top 10 victory.
“We knew we had to win the serve and passing game, along with being aggressive at the net without letting up if we wanted to see success tonight. Our defense in the backcourt also played with immense grit and fight!” McLain enthusiastically concluded.
Troutman could not be contained in this potential NAIA National Tournament showcase, as she bested her season-highs in both kills (22) and digs (15) to secure a commanding double-double against a solid Red Raider team. Ridgway tallied her second double-double of the day with 11 kills and 15 digs, and both Schmidt and sophomore opposite hitter Ainslie Ridgway accounted for six kills apiece.
Ontai secured another team-high in digs with 17 on the match, while Mullen earned the game-high in assists with 23 dimes. Sophomore setter Courtney Garwood provided the excellent second-team support with 16 assist to help guide this explosive Warriors’ offensive squad.
Offensively for Northwestern, outside hitter Jazlin De Haan scored 13 kills on the afternoon, adding six digs in the backcourt when called upon. Middle blocker Bekah Horstman added 12 kills to the mix, along with four blocks.
The dual-setter combo of Liv Reitsma and Jadeyn Schutt accounted for all but eight of the Red Raiders’ total team assists, dealing out 20 and 15 assists, respectfully. Libero Olivia Granstra hauled in the game-high 20 digs in the backcourt to highlight Northwestern’s evening.
No. 7 Corban Volleyball returns to the court in Fullerton for the second day of the HIU Summer Slam tomorrow morning, where they will battle No. 24 Dordt College at 10:30am PDT, and then (RV) Westmont College at 6pm PDT in yet another pair of NAIA Top 25 opponents.
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