Salem, Ore. - Friday night was a wild night for Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball. The No. 7 Corban University volleyball team battled hard and broke personal records, but ultimately struggled against The Evergreen State College's stellar defense at the net.

Head coach Kim McLain said, "Evergreen came ready to battle and we struggled defensively! We have to be mentally prepared every night to execute knowing nothing is easy in the tough CCC!"  

The Geoducks totaled a remarkable 15 blocks on Friday evening, and despite one of Corban's strongest offensive efforts of the season, the Geoducks were triumphant in the thrilling match.

Set one was back and forth throughout, but the Geoducks came away with a victory, 29-27. Evergreen's Zoe Shaw was fueling the Geoduck offense, and Sierra Wolff was orchestrating the attack. Shaw totaled 21 kills on the night, and Wolff notched 51 assists in the contest. Not to be outdone, Lily Steward came alive in set two and ended up recording 24 total kills.

The ever-resilient Warriors did not let a set one loss stop them from playing tough in set two. The Warriors came away with a set two win, 25-19, but the momentum shifted yet again, and Evergreen battled back to take set three at a familiar, 25-19. Like clockwork, Corban bounced back and took set four, but the tides turned one last time and Evergreen led for the entirety of the deciding set.

Corban was paced offensively by Avari Ridgway who set a new career high in kills with 24 on an impressive .419 clip. Of note, Ridgway's record-breaking kill (22) was assisted by her younger sister, Ainslie Ridgway who tallied just the second assist of her career on the play.

Cora Furman also had an impressive offensive performance with nine kills while attacking at a team high of .529. Allyson Reid (11) and Rylee Troutman (18) also made strong contributions to the Warrior offense. Jadyn Mullen was in on many of the Navy and Gold's offensive efforts, recording a season-high 32 assists on the evening. Ciarra Judson also tallied 26 assists in the contest.

Kealani Ontai recorded 21 digs in the battle, while Ridgway (10) and Troutman (11) contributed another 21.

Corban (23-2, 17-2 CCC) will be back in action tomorrow night (Senior Night) at 7 p.m. in the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center looking to bounce back against Northwest University (12-12, 11-8 CCC).