BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – Corban's women's volleyball team nearly pulled off its biggest upset of the season so far, as the Warriors took the defending Cascade Collegiate Conference champions The College of Idaho to five sets before falling to the Lady Yotes, 3-2 (25-22, 13-25, 15-25, 25-22, 13-15), Friday night inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

With tonight's result, Corban falls to 2-12 overall and 0-5 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Meanwhile, C of I improves to 3-7 overall and 3-1 in league matches.

Senior Olivia Shropshire, who was making a return from an ankle injury that forced her to miss the Warriors' last two matches, registered a double-double with a team-high 14 kills and 10 digs, while juniors Miah Smith and Claire Bailey added 10 and 8 kills, respectively. The freshman setting duo of Payton Wilcox and Haley Meili combined to hand out 34 assists, as Wilcox led the pair with a team-best 18 to go along with three kills and four blocks. Defensively, Corban registered a combined team total of 73 digs led by junior libero Katherine Salness with a team-high 22 with three other Warriors – freshman Nicole Weisenfelder, freshman Mikenzee Frazier, and Shropshire – tallying double-digit dig totals with 16, 11, and 10, respectively. At the net, Corban registered 26 blocks led by senior Jenny Harman with a season-high eight that included one solo and seven assist blocks.

The College of Idaho was led by Elisa Brochado with a match-high 22 kills, while Liz Myers and Sofia Anxo each registered 14 kills for the visiting Lady Yotes. Sierra Porter handed out a match-high 49 assists to go along with 14 digs and five blocks, while three other C of I players – Kylee Nawahine, Janel Porter, and Brochado – earned double-digit dig totals with a match-high 23, 18, and 11, respectively. At the net, Myers tallied a double-double with her aforementioned 14 kills and match-high 10 blocks (all assist) as the Lady Yotes registered 30 blocks as a team to set a single-match school-record breaking the old mark of 23 set during the 1998 season versus Concordia.

The opening set would see both teams battle back-and-forth through the first 18 combined points until Corban used a 3-0 run to build a 12-9 lead on a kill by Shropshire. The host Warriors would extend their lead to five points (20-15) on a combo block by Harman and Bailey, as Corban closed out Set #1 on another kill from Shropshire en route to earning the 25-22 victory.

Set #2 would belong to C of I, as the Lady Yotes broke a 5-5 tie with a 12-7 run that resulted in a five-point lead (17-12). The College of Idaho would extend its lead to a set-ending 12 points (25-13), as C of I got back-to-back kills from Myers to tie the match at a set-apiece.

The middle set would see Corban jump out to a quick four-point lead (7-3) thanks to back-to-back service aces from Shropshire before a questionable call by the referee allowed C of I to jumpstart an 11-1 run that handed the Lady Yotes a 14-8 lead. Despite Corban pulling back within two points (17-15) on a kill by Shropshire, The College of Idaho scored the final eight points of the set to earn the 25-15 victory on back-to-back kills by Myers.

Set #4 would open identical to the previous set, as Corban built a 7-3 advantage early before The College of Idaho used a 12-8 run to knot things at 15-all on a service ace by Cheyan Colburn. This time though, the host Warriors dug down deep and did not allow C of I to earn the victory in four sets thanks to an 8-4 run that saw Corban build a 24-19 lead on a hitting error by the Lady Yotes. Despite C of I pulling back within two points (24-22), Corban continued to ride the arm of Shropshire to earn the 25-22 win that forced a fifth and deciding set.

The final set would see Corban pull ahead by three points (12-9) on a combo block by Harman and Wilcox before The College of Idaho used a match-closing 6-1 run that concluded with kills by Porter and Brochado for the hard-fought 15-13 victory for the visiting Lady Yotes.

This is the first time since the 2004 season that Corban and The College of Idaho have gone five sets, as then-Albertson earned a victory by going the distance at home in Caldwell, Idaho. That same season, then-Western Baptist earned its last victory against the Lady Yotes thanks to a three-set sweep at home inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

Corban will return to action tomorrow night – Saturday, September 21st – against the NAIA's No. 14-ranked Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.