WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Needing a weekend sweep to possible clinch a share or outright regular season championship within the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC), the No. 8-ranked Corban University Volleyball team was able to hold off the Walla Walla University Wolves on multiple occasions to clinch a 3-0 sweep, 25-23, 25-22, and 25-17 on the road in southeastern Washington.
"Walla Walla was playing with intention, serving tough as well as playing a fast offense," deducted Warriors' head coach Kim McLain. "We started off a little behind on our blocking but as the match went on, our block was key to slowing down their success. I was proud of the team and how they stayed focused throughout all three sets."
After an opening set that saw the Warriors (22-4, 18-3) allow the Wolves (9-14, 8-13) to attack over .100 as a team, the Navy and Gold buckled down defensively to clinch the first period and eventually hold Walla Walla to .033 and .038 attacking clips for the remainder of the match. Despite an even 45-digs apiece, Corban was able to take the match at the net defensively via their 11-3 advantage in blocks, utilizing their size and overpowering presence to force numerous unforced errors and keep the Wolves guessing.
At 23-22 in the first set in favor of Walla Walla, the Corban blocking unit took over as senior middle blocker Allyson Reid and junior opposite hitter Makayla Roginski swatted back-to-back attacks back at outside hitter Sahara Browning to earn set point, where sophomore outside hitter Emma Bischoff earned her first of two service aces to close out the set on a 3-0 Warrior run.
Neither of the two CCC foes could pull away throughout the second set until the Wolves scored on four-straight plays to flip a two-point Corban lead into a two-point deficit for the Navy and Gold. However, the Warriors would go on to score four-straight points of their own to retake the lead and wouldn't relinquish until their 2-0 set lead was established at 25-22.
It was all Corban in the third and final set, as the Warriors leapt out to a 12-5 lead and despite a handful of runs by Walla Walla, held on for the 25-17 set victory to clinch the match in an early afternoon sweep and keep a perfect 10-0 record all-time against the Wolves.
A balanced attacking front for the Navy and Gold was led by Bischoff and her game-high nine kills, adding nine digs in the backcourt to fall just short of a double-double effort. Roginski and sophomore outside hitter Kendra Bittle added eight kills apiece, with Roginki earning a career-high seven block assists alongside seven more from the all-time blocking record holder in Reid.
Junior setter Abby Guindy and sophomore setter Nadeiah Howard commanded the Corban offense with 19 and 10 assists, respectively, combining for eight digs defensively as well. In the backcourt, senior libero Marissa Uehara dug up a team-best 11 digs to power the Warriors to the road sweep.
Walla Walla saw both their offense and defense run through Browning, who matched Bischoff with nine kills and had 11 digs defensively, yet ten attacking errors by the sophomore caused by the Corban presence showed that Coach McLain and her squad had learned from their previous matchup in Salem. Libero Idalis Bedore secured the game-high dig total at 12, while setters Danielle Faamausili and Melissa Monterroza dealt out 14 and 12 assists, respectively.
The Warriors will have an opportunity from clinching at least a share of the 2024 CCC regular season title tomorrow afternoon at Lewis-Clark State College (15-11, 12-9), as a win will move the Navy and Gold to 19-3 in conference play and either earn the program a co-championship or outright crown depending on results from around the conference.
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