BOX SCORE

PORTLAND, Ore. – After trailing by two sets, Corban's women's volleyball team came back to force a fifth and deciding set before falling to the Knights of Warner Pacific, 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 13-15), Saturday inside C.C. Perry Gymnasium.

Following tonight's result, Corban falls to 2-11 overall and 0-4 in Cascade Collegiate Conference matches. Meanwhile, Warner Pacific improves to 3-9 overall and 1-3 in league play.

Senior Jenny Harman provided seven kills and a match-high seven blocks for Corban, while junior Claire Bailey led the Warriors' offense with a match-high 11 kills. Junior Miah Smith also provided nine kills to go along with a pair of seven-kill performances by senior Alex Matulewitz and freshman Payton Wilcox. The setting duo of freshman Haley Meili and Wilcox combined to hand out 32 assists, as Meili led the Warriors with 18 and Wilcox added 14 assists. Defensively, junior libero Katherine Salness led Corban's back row with 14 digs to go along with a career-high 12 digs by freshman Nicole Weisenfelder. Senior Brittany Sweet led the Warriors' combined 12-ace performance with a match-high six, while Meili added three of her own.

In the opening set, Corban would overcome a four-point deficit (11-7) with a 5-1 run that tied things at 12-all on the second of back-to-back aces by Sweet. Over the next 10 combined points, each team would trade 5-0 runs that ended with the set knotted at 17-17 on a service ace by Harman. A combo block by Wilcox and fellow freshman Madison Purnell would give the Warriors a slim one-point lead (22-21) before Warner Pacific scored three straight points to take a 24-22 lead. After a kill by Smith pulled Corban within a single point (24-23), Warner Pacific scored the final point of the set thanks to a kill by Mikaela Lisoski for the hard-fought two-point win (25-23).

The second set would see a back-and-forth battle over the opening 18 combined points until Warner Pacific used a 3-0 run to pull ahead by the score of 12-9 before Corban used a 5-0 run to pull ahead 14-12 on a service ace by Meili. Neither team would hold more than a two-point lead until the set was tied at 21-all on a kill by Wilcox. Two straight points by Warner Pacific would hand the Knights a 23-21 lead that forced Corban to call its final timeout of the set. A kill by Purnell would bring the Warriors back within a single point (23-22) before WPC scored the final two points thanks to back-to-back kills by Julia Toscano for the 25-22 victory.

Set #3 would see Warner Pacific build a slim one-point lead (17-16) before Corban used back-to-back 3-0 runs that included a pair of timeouts by the host Knights resulting in a 22-17 lead for the Warriors. Despite Warner Pacific scoring five of the final eight points, Corban's lead was too much and ended with Smith recording a kill for the 25-22 win for the Warriors.

The fourth set would begin with Warner Pacific earning a 6-5 lead in the beginning before Corban used a 4-0 run to earn a 9-6 lead on a kill by Matulewicz. Warner Pacific would battle back to tie the set at 17-17 thanks to an 11-8 run before Corban scored the final eight points of the set that included three straight kills by Matulewicz in the end that helped the Warriors earn the 25-17 victory that forced a fifth and deciding set.

The fifth and final set would see Corban jump out to a 4-1 lead before extending it to seven points (10-3) that forced Warner Pacific to call its second and final timeout of the set. After the break in action, the host Knights used a set-closing 12-3 run that resulted in a come-from-behind 15-13 victory that sealed WPC's first conference win of the season in a five-set thriller.

Toscano would lead a trio of Warner Pacific players that registered double-digit kill totals with a match-high 16, while the sister duo of Nicole and Mikaela Lisoski chipped in with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Marchelle Bostic handed out a match-high 53 assists for the Knights, while Brandy Velasquez anchored the Knights' defense with a match-high 30 digs.

Corban will return to action on Friday, September 20th, when the Warriors host The College of Idaho beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center in Salem.