SALEM, Ore. – The No. 5 Corban University Women's Volleyball team (7-2, 0-1) took a gut punch to open the Cascade Collegiate Conference slate, dropping a three-set sweep to the visiting No. 7 Eastern Oregon University Mountaineers (8-1, 1-0) by final set scores of 25-27, 21-25, and 17-25.
"Tonight's result came down to too many unforced errors and not staying mentally focused on our side of the court," Warriors' Head Coach Kim McLain explained.
"EOU came ready to play, and we had a hard time responding. We will continue to journey, regroup, and prepare for our next match," McLain concluded.
In one of the most highly anticipated matches of the conference season, and in the entire NAIA, the Warriors and Mountaineers were introduced in front of roughly 200 screaming fans, nearly filling the C.E. Jeffers Sports Complex to its brim. With schools recently beginning session for the 2022-23 school year, The Barracks were packed edge to edge with students, all cheering on the home team Warriors in a deafening atmosphere.
Set one proved to show just how competitive these two teams are when they share the court, as it featured eight lead changes and seven ties, with both teams growing huge leads, only to watch them dissolve in front of their eyes.
Corban began the contest with three-straight points, rising the crowd to their feet, only for Eastern Oregon to answer with three-straight of their own. However, the Warriors fought back to score six points in a row, thus forcing the Mounties to call timeout and reassess at 3-9.
Perfectly used timeouts would be the theme of this set, as the Mounties would rally to an 11-13 deficit before scoring another six-straight points and force the Warriors to utilize their first timeout of the set.
Another four-straight points from Corban tied this contest, and the Warriors and Mountaineers began a back-and-forth foot race to be the first to acquire a set win. Corban briefly held the advantage at 24-22, needing just one point to take the set, but EOU fought tooth and nail to scratch and claw their way back to a 25-24 lead, and taking the set three points later, 27-25.
An extra-point first set heartbreaker is exactly what the Warriors didn't need to start their 2022 home game campaign, as a .157 attacking percentage ultimately spelled demise in set one, and the theme would continue into the second and third sets.
Unlike the initial set, neither team was able to stretch the lead more than three points throughout the second set, with the largest lead being the set final. Despite trailing by only a point at 21-22, the Warriors couldn't find the momentum they needed to rebound and even this contest at a set apiece, as the Mounties rattled off three straight kills from outside hitter Ashton Haughton and middle hitter Preslee Jensen resulted in a 25-21 set win for Eastern Oregon.
The energy and life had been absolutely sucked from the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center, and despite many opportunities from the Corban Men's Soccer players present to start a rally in The Barracks, little could be done to stop the Mounties on a night in which they brought their best play to the court.
The Mountaineers defensive frontline gave the Warriors trouble all night long, leading a block parade and blocking advantage of 14-3 on the night, where a majority came in the third and final set. Eastern Oregon tallied seven assisted blocks in the third set alone, including the penultimate point. EOU completed the sweep one point later on a season-long atypical Warrior attacking error, sending Corban fans home early Friday night.
The Warriors struck an abysmal .000 attacking percentage in the third set, tallying just as many errors as they did kills (10). This marks the first time this season that the Warriors have collected less than 40 kills in a contest, managing to find the court floor just 38 total times tonight.
Senior outside hitter Avari Ridgway led the way for the Warriors offensively, earning 11 of those 38 total kills and adding seven digs along the way. Freshman opposite hitter Makayla Roginski followed with nine kills and added two digs with an assist.
The silver lining in the Warriors' loss came from senior setter Jadyn Mullen, who logged her second straight double-double with a game-high in assists (19) and team-high in digs (13). Senior libero Kealani Ontai earned 11 digs in the backcourt, while sophomore outside hitter Rylee Troutman recorded 12 digs defensively.
Despite a rough night, the Warriors did lead the Mounties in kills (38-30), service aces (5-3), and assists (31-29), but the extremely tilted defensive statistics of blocks and digs (56-51), plus Corban committing 14 unforced serving errors ultimately led the Mounties to the conference opening victory.
Jensen tied Ridgway in kills with 11 of her own, while setter Alexis McMurtrey recorded the only other double-double of the evening with 14 assists and 12 digs. Middle hitter Kara Clayton came dangerously close to the extremely rare double-double of kills and blocks, recording seven kills and nine blocks to absolutely stuff the Warriors offensively.
Tomorrow night's contest against The College of Idaho was cancelled and will be logged as a forfeit win for the Warriors, as the C of I women's volleyball program has too many injuries and COVID-19 cases to field a full team. As per CCC guidelines, the contest will be recorded as a win for the Warriors, pushing their overall record to 8-2, and 1-1 in CCC contests after this weekend concludes.
The next time the Warriors will take the court will be next Wednesday, September 7th, as Corban will travel for a midweek I-5 rivalry contest with Bushnell University (6-3, 1-0) at the Morse Center on the Beacons' campus at 7pm PDT.
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