SALEM, Ore. – Despite an opening set scare that saw the No. 8-ranked Corban University Volleyball team commit 14 unforced errors against The Evergreen State College, the Warriors rebounded to take the next three sets and earn their twentieth win of the regular season for the fourth-straight year and eighth in the past nine seasons. The Navy and Gold dropped the first set 25-23 before rallying for 25-15, 25-14, and 25-17 set scores through the remainder of tonight's Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) matchup.
"Tonight, we came into the match lacking focus having too many unforced errors to start," said Corban head coach Kim McLain. "As the match went on, we began to make better decisions, limiting our errors, as well as putting pressure on Evergreen State with our serves. I'm proud of everyone for their effort and teamwork that led us to this win."
A .278 team kill percentage in the opening set for the Warriors (20-4, 16-3), their highest in a single set tonight, was wasted on eight service errors and six attacking errors while allowing the Geoducks (4-19, 4-15) to attack at a .222 clip of their own for the 25-23 upset win to open the match.
After having time to regroup and modify their gameplan, Coach McLain and her team left no doubt over the final three sets, where they kept their consistent attacking scheme afloat and limited their unforced errors while forcing Evergreen State into making plenty of their own at the service line and in their offensive opportunities.
Warriors' sophomore outside hitter Emma Bischoff smashed a game-high 15 kills with just two errors and eight digs in the backcourt, while redshirt junior middle blocker Jadah Schmidtke tallied 12 kills on a .526 attacking percentage and a career-best seven digs against the Geoducks' tips at the net. Junior opposite hitter Kylie Davey added seven kills with no errors in two sets played, while senior middle blocker Allyson Reid brought seven kills and three block assists to the table for the hometown team.
Junior setter Abby Guindy dealt out 25 assists in three sets of action and senior libero Marissa Uehara commanded the backcourt with 16 digs. Finally, freshman defensive specialist Madison Hernandez dropped three service aces on the Evergreen State receiving core to represent nearly half of the team's aces on the day.
Geoducks' opposite hitter Ashley Walker Campbell was the go-to attacker in the Evergreen State offense this evening, tallying a team-best 12 kills while adding a trio of block assists. Middle blockers Zofia Formella and Kaiyah Brown each tacked on four block assists to lead all student-athletes, while libero Molly Packer dug up a game-high 22 digs.
Tomorrow at 4pm, the Warriors will play in their final regular season home match at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center, where they will honor their six senior student-athletes at 3:50pm prior to their matchup with Northwest University (12-15, 7-12).
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