BOX SCORE

SALEM, Ore. – In its final match of the opening weekend of Cascade Collegiate Conference play, Corban's women's volleyball team fell in straight set to the Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Tech, 3-0 (19-25, 13-25, 15-25), Saturday inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

With tonight's result, Corban falls to 2-8 overall and 0-2 in CCC matches. On the other hand, Oregon Tech evens its record at 7-7 overall and 1-1 in league play.

Senior Olivia Shropshire and junior Claire Bailey led the Warriors' offense with seven kills each, while senior Jenny Harman, junior Miah Smith, and sophomore Kelsey Wright added four, three, and three kills, respectively. The freshman setting duo of Payton Wilcox and Haley Meili combined to handed out 21 assists, as Wilcox dished out a team-high 11 assists to go along with Meili's 10. Defensively, junior libero Katherine Salness led all players with a match-high 21 digs that included nine in the third and final set alone. At the net, Wilcox and fellow freshman Madison Purnell led the Warriors with three blocks each.

The opening set would see Oregon Tech jump out to a five-point lead (6-1) behind the serving of Jennifer Lakin before Corban called its first timeout of the set. Following the break in action, Corban used an 11-7 run to pull within a single point (13-12) on a service ace by senior Brittany Sweet. Oregon Tech would bounced back by scoring the next three points to take a 16-12 lead before Corban used a 4-2 run to pull within two points (18-16) on a service ace by Salness. Unfortunately that would be as close as Corban would get, as Oregon Tech closed the set on a 7-3 run to earn the 25-19 victory.

Set #2 would see Oregon Tech build an early lead (7-3) once again before pushing its advantage to 11 points (20-9). The visiting Owls would earn set-point (24-11) on a combo block by Marlee Smith, Kylie Kitzmiller, and Renee Baumann before Corban held OIT at bay for the next two points thanks to Owl miscues. In the end though, Oregon Tech's lead was too much as the Owls got a set-ending kill from Smith en route to earning the 25-13 victory and a two-set lead.

In the third and final set, Oregon Tech held a four-point lead (7-3) when Corban was struck with a tough injury to Shropshire that forced her to the sideline for the remainder of the match. After the injury to Shropshire, Oregon Tech push its lead to nine points (12-3) before extending it further to 10 points (20-10) on a kill by Kelsey Sampson. Corban would attempt to fight its way back, as the Warriors used a 5-2 run to pull within seven points (22-15) on a kill by Wright. Two straight kills by the Owls along with a match-ending block by Madisen Garlie and Mykala Rubey would secure the straight set victory for Oregon Tech, as OIT pick up the 25-15 win.

Oregon Tech was led offensively by Smith with a match-high 12 kills, while Sampson and Baumann added eight and four, respectively. Kayleigh Whelchel handed out a match-high 15 assists for the Owls, while Megan Holland added nine and Victoria Porter chipped in with five assists in limited playing time during the third and final set. On the back row, Marie Baumann led the Owls with 15 digs to go along with a match-high tying five blocks each by Kitzmiller and Baumann.

Corban will return to action on Friday, September 13th, against the Cavaliers of Concordia University beginning at 7:00 p.m. inside Cavalier Gymnasium in Portland.