LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 13 Corban University volleyball team lost its first match of the 2020-21 campaign on Saturday, falling in a five-set thriller (22-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-21, 15-13) to Oregon Tech in the morning duel. The Navy and Gold bounced back in a big way in the final match of the weekend, however, powering past the Owls in straight sets (25-17, 25-8, 25-13) en route to a doubleheader split.

"We started out the day stale—not passing or serving well—which is something OIT took advantage of in the first match," said head coach Kim McLain. "We also did not anticipate OIT's fast offense. I was proud of how the team turned it around in the second match, focusing on the details, which resulted in a dominant win."

Despite carrying a two-games-to-one advantage heading into the fourth set, the Navy and Gold was unable to finish off the resilient Owls in the first match of the day.

Oregon Tech took advantage of an uncharacteristically sloppy final two sets for the Warriors, during which Corban committed 10 of its 21 total attacking errors. The squad also tallied a season-high 12 service errors in the defeat.

It's the first time the Owls have beaten the Warriors since 2015, due in major part to the offensive efforts of Nicole Reyes (15 kills), Faith Houck-Wylie (12 kills), and Ashley Ripplinger (11 kills), who spearheaded the OIT attack.

Meanwhile for Corban, the loss wasted a career match for Ally Tow, who established new season highs in kills (18), points (20), and blocks (4) in the nail-biting defeat.

After the disappointing start to the day, the Warriors bounced back in a big way in the second match of the doubleheader, returning to form en route to a straight-set blowout.

There was not a single point of the match in which the Navy and Gold trailed, with the Warriors attacking at a season-high .396 clip as a team in the win.

Corban's three-pronged attack of Avari Ridgway (10 kills, .533 attack percentage), Ally Tow (11 kills, .400 attack percentage), and Rylee Troutman (10 kills, .455 attack percentage) was out in full force. Sarena Bartley was also exceptional in the victory, compiling seven kills on an efficient .333 clip. Meanwhile, Jadyn Mullen (25 assists) and Ciarra Judson (16 assists) combined for 41 assists.

Ridgway led the Warriors with 11 digs on the defensive end, while libero Kealani Ontai was just behind her with 10.

The next time the Warriors (7-1, 7-1 CCC) will be in Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) action, it will be inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center, when Lewis-Clark State College visits Salem on March 19-20.