BOX SCORE
SALEM, Ore. – In an attempt to capture its first weekend sweep of the season, Corban's women's volleyball team hung with the NAIA's No. 21-ranked Cavaliers of Concordia throughout taking the opening set before dropping three straight in a four-set loss, 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 15-25, 12-25), Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.
Corban (5-16, 2-9 CCC) was led offensively by a trio of Warriors – junior
Claire Bailey, senior
Olivia Shropshire, and junior
Miah Smith – with double-digit kill totals with a match-high 14, 10, and 10, respectively. Shropshire would register her second straight double-double with her 10 kills and 16 digs, while junior libero
Katherine Salness added a team-high 17 digs defensively. The freshman setting duo of
Haley Meili and
Payton Wilcox would combine to hand out 35 assists with Meili leading the offense with 22, while senior
Jenny Harman added three blocks at the net.
Concordia (16-4, 9-2 CCC) would get a team-high 13 kills from Brenna Huwe, while Brianna Hogan and Melaine Miller added 12 and 11, respectively. Lindsay Mangan ran the Cavaliers' offense with a match-high 37 assists, while Shantel Gritsch anchored CU's defense with a match-high 22 digs. At the net, Goringe registered a match-high six blocks to go along with a match-high three services aces from Anna Chizum.
The opening set would be a dog-fight over the first 20 combined points until Concordia broke a 10-10 tie with a mini 4-1 run that resulted in a 14-11 lead on a kill by Hogan. Corban would battle back to take a 16-15 thanks to a 5-1 run that concluded with a kill by Smith. Both teams would trade points over the next few, as Concordia built a slim two-point advantage (21-19) before Shropshire brought the Warriors within one (21-20) with a kill before stepping behind the service line. The senior outside hitter would serve the final five points, as Corban came back to win the opening set (25-21) thanks to a set-closing 5-0 run on the arm of Shropshire.
Set #2 would see Corban build a 10-6 advantage on a kill by Shropshire before Concordia used a 14-6 run that resulted in a four-point lead (20-16) that forced the host Warriors to call a timeout. Following the break in action, Concordia did not relinquish its lead pushing it to a set-closing six-point cushion (25-19) thanks to a pair of Hogan kills that bookended a Chizum service ace.
The third set would belong to Concordia from the beginning, as the Cavaliers jumped out to a seven-point lead (14-7) before increased its advantage to double digits (21-11) on a kill by Mangan. Despite Corban pulling within seven points (22-15) on a service ace by senior
Brittany Sweet, the Warriors would not get any closer thanks to a set-closing 3-0 run by Concordia that ended on a service ace by Jenessa Taylor for the 25-15 victory.
The fourth and final set would also be a one-sided affair, as Concordia built a seven-point lead (13-6) before increasing it to 13 points (23-10) behind the serving of Gritsch. Corban would pull within 12 points (24-12) on a kill by Shropshire before Concordia closed out the match on Miller's 11th and final kill of the night for the 25-12 win and victory in four sets.
Overall, Corban hit .114 (43-26-149) on the night versus Concordia's .248 (50-15-141) that included a .560 clip in the second set when the Cavaliers registered 14 kills on 25 swings without an error.
Corban will return to action on Friday, October 18th, against the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Klamath Falls.
