LEWISTON, Idaho – No. 20 LC State Volleyball battled its way through three strongly contested sets to win its fifth straight match with a sweep of Walla Walla (Wash.) on Tuesday. The Warriors played from behind in the final two frames to take the contest by scores of 25-19, 30-28, 25-23.
Ella Stosich had a strong showing with 17 digs and a career-high seven assists, while Taylor Boyce led the offense with 13 kills.
The victory improves the LC State record to 17-4 overall and 11-4 in Cascade Conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Boyce set the tone with a kill on the first play of the match, and swings by Hadyn Smith and Mikale Roy, as well as an ace by Hannah Dotson, had LC State out to a 5-2 lead. WWU cut the difference to two at 11-9, but a kill by Addison Wilson was followed by three straight aces from Kadence Moore to push the advantage to 15-9. Roy and Boyce notched kills before a block by Karissa Lindner and Boyce at 21-15, and kills by Lindner, Boyce and Smith ended the frame 25-19.
Walla Walla rebounded in the second set to take a 12-9 lead early. The teams battled back and forth, and the Wolves held the advantage until 18-16. Boyce and Kendall Focht went back-to-back with kills before an Ashlyn Watt ace gave LC State a 19-18 lead. Swings by Boyce and Smith kept the lead at 22-21, but WWU answered with a three-point run to push the score to set point, 24-22, in favor of the Wolves. Roy stepped up with two consecutive kills to tie things up 24-24, and a kill by Smith kept the set going at 25-25. Boyce ended the set 30-28 with back-to-back kills to put LC State up 2-0 in the match.
WWU had early momentum once again in the third set and surged in front with a 9-3 cushion. The deficit grew to 14-7 before a pair of aces by Teagan Scott and kills by Boyce and Wilson helped fuel a seven-point run to tie the frame 14-14. The Wolves answered to regain the lead at 17-14 and pushed the score to 19-15 before a kill by Smith sparked a five-point swing. Roy tallied two kills in the span and Focht dealt an ace to give the Warriors a 22-20 advantage. Watt ended the set 25-23 with an ace.
STAT RECAP
Boyce led the Warriors with 13 kills on a .242 attack percentage and Smith added 12 at .300. Scott dished out 21 assists and collected eight digs and Focht tallied 15 assists.
Stosich was a key playmaker with six assists in the first set and a career-best seven in the match. She collected 17 digs to lead the contest.
Sahara Browning led Walla Walla with a 16-kill, 14-point double-double. Olivia Cheek dished out 16 assists and Kylee Stinger added 15. Both Kienna Stepper and Lauren Moody tallied four block assists as the Wolves outblocked LC State 8-3.
The Warriors hit .215 as a team and held WWU to .189.
UP NEXT
The Warriors are back in the P1FCU Activity Center on Saturday to host Warner Pacific (Ore.) at 2 p.m. LC State will host its fifth annual Trunk-or-Treat event in the parking lot from noon to 3 p.m.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.