SALEM, Ore. – In front of a noisy crowd at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center, the Corban University volleyball team lost a hard-fought battle to Warner Pacific College, 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23), on Friday night. The Warriors compiled 51 kills and 49 assists in the home-opening match.

In the opening set, Corban (3-7, 0-3 CCC) jumped out to a 7-4 lead following a kill by senior outside hitter Miah Smith (Albany, Ore.), a service ace by sophomore setter Mikenzee Frazier (Lebanon, Ore.), and a pair of Warner Pacific errors. The Knights, however, responded with a 15-5 run to take control of the set. A kill by Smith cut the deficit to four (20-24), but a Warrior attack error delivered Warner Pacific set one.

In set two, the Warriors again managed to race to an early lead, as a service ace by senior defensive specialist Karissa Legg (Murrieta, Calif.) capped a 10-4 Corban run. After Warner Pacific (4-4, 2-1 CCC) managed to tie the set at 22 apiece, consecutive kills by Smith and freshman outside hitter Shantelle Hill (Pasco, Wash.) drove the Warriors to set point. Following a Knight kill, Hill swooped in from the left side to deliver another kill and win the set for Corban.

Set three saw Corban fall behind early, 3-11. But the Warriors managed to stay alive thanks to Hill, who tallied five of her 12 kills in the stanza. A kill by freshman opposite hitter Shelby Miller (Lebanon, Ore.) cut Warner Pacific's lead to three (20-23), but Corban would come up short, 20-25.

Perhaps the rowdiest set of the match, set four, saw the Navy and Gold nearly rally from a seven-point deficit. Trailing 13-20, a kill by freshman middle blocker Sloane Morrison (Edmonds, Wash.) ignited a furious 8-0 turn-around by Corban. The run included the longest rally in the match, as Hill swung in for a kill to cut the lead to deficit to three at 17-20. Following a Warner Pacific attack error and a Smith kill, Morrison again delivered, this time registering back-to-back kills to hand Corban the lead (21-20). However, Corban's effort would come up short, as the Warriors lost the set, 23-25, sealing the match for the Knights.

Watch an exciting point from the fourth set here:

Smith paced the offensive attack with a career- and season-high 15 kills. Meanwhile, Hill recorded her fifth double-figure match of the season with 12 kills. Corban executed its passing game well thanks to sophomore setter Haley Meili (Eugene, Ore.), who notched a career- and season-best 34 assists to go along with 12 digs. Moreover, Frazier chipped in 12 assists.

On the defensive end, senior libero Katherine Salness (Portland, Ore.) recorded 13 digs in the match. As a team, Corban compiled 61 digs and six block assists.

For Warner Pacific, Janessa White led the way offensively with 14 kills, while Marchelle Bostic racked up 53 assists on the evening.  As a team, the Knights recorded a hitting percentage of 0.278, while Corban notched just a 0.171 attacking mark.

The Warriors return to action on Saturday to take on Concordia University (6-4, 3-0 CCC) in Salem at 5 p.m.