PORTLAND, Ore. – Despite an unusually sluggish beginning to the match this evening, the No. 3 Corban University Women's Volleyball team (22-2, 15-1) rebounded in each of the first two sets to take down the Multnomah University Lions (2-13, 2-13) in straight sets, 25-21, 25-23, and 25-10.
"We came in tonight not on top of our game, making too many errors and Multnomah took advantage of that," Corban Head Coach Kim McLain said following their 15th straight win. "We were able to battle back in the first two sets, regrouped, and finished the third set strong."
The Warriors began the contest extremely cold at the net, as the Lions took advantage of attacking errors to build a 7-2 lead and force McLain into calling an unprecedented timeout. Corban managed to fight back to force a 12-12 tie and now put Multnomah into a mental reset situation.
With neither team able to take a definitive lead, the two squads found themselves in a 21-all gridlock, before the Warriors offense finally kicked into another gear. Two Multnomah misplays, followed by back-to-back kills from sophomore outside hitter Rylee Troutman gave Corban just the momentum they needed to escape the first set with a 25-21 win.
Corban once again couldn't find their offensive sweet spot at the start of the second set, as they quickly fell behind 1-9 and needed a mental reset. McLain utilized one of her timeouts for the set to try to get the Warriors back in the head space they needed to find success and were able to do that to a degree by fighting off four straight points midway through the set to pull within an 11-14 margin.
The Warriors kept digging away at the deficit and managed to within a point at 21-22 before the Lions began to hit the panic button. Multnomah even managed to land themselves a 23-22 lead, but Corban rallied off three-straight to close the set out, with Troutman tallying two more kills in the clutch.
After a nerve-racking first two sets for Corban, they finally found the offense that Warrior fans had been accustomed to seeing through the season thus far in the third set against the Lions. The Navy and Gold scored the first seven points in the set and never looked back, stretching that lead even further with another seven-point run late in the frame that gave the Warriors a commanding 23-8 advantage. Four points later, the Warriors completed the set and match with a kill from senior outside hitter Avari Ridgway, earning their 22nd win of the season.
As a team, Corban rebounded well in the second and third sets to swing a .205 attacking percentage for the match, while holding the Lions to just a .043 swinging rate. A majority of the Lions momentum rode upon the shoulders of Warrior' errors, as Corban committed more errors than the Lions did in scoring kills, 21 to 19.
Troutman put together another spectacular night at the net, forcing off a cold start to finish with 19 kills and 15 digs to lock down yet another double-double. Senior libero Kealani Ontai concluded her night with another game-high in digs with 19 in the backcourt, while senior setter Jadyn Mullen dealt out 20 assists to lead all players and added 12 digs for her own double-double.
The Lions were led at the net by opposite hitters Jocelyn Porter and Jahnay Jardine, who each recorded five kills to account for over half of Multnomah's kills for the game. Libero Lauren Porter took home the team-high in digs with 17 for the evening.
The No. 3 Warriors finally return to C.E. Jeffers Sports Center for a weekend of hosting, as Southern Oregon University (16-6, 10-5) and Oregon Tech (11-10, 8-7) will be traveling to Salem for a pair of key CCC matchups, with both contests scheduled for a 7pm PDT start time on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
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