KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Five-straight contests on the road to begin Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play was an expected uphill battle that the No. 9-ranked Corban University Volleyball program concluded with perfection earlier this afternoon, as the Warriors handled the Lady Owls of Oregon Tech in straight sets, 25-20, 25-15, and 26-24 to finish the expedition 5-0 and stand alone atop the conference standings.
"OIT is quick and scrappy, and they showed that tonight by challenging us throughout the entire match," Warriors' head coach Kim McLain explained. "We had to be intentional and focused, never letting down, playing through each rally. I was proud of the way we passed tonight which allowed us to be in control for a large majority of the match."
With the Warriors (-, -) still riding the momentum of last night's upset win in Ashland, they were able to take advantage of some costly errors by the Owls (-, -) throughout the opening set, most notably during their four-point run to break an 18-all tie and jump out to a 22-18 lead. OIT was able to correct their mistakes to cut their deficit in half, but back-to-back points for Corban on a kill from sophomore outside hitter Emma Bischoff and yet another attacking error by the Lady Owls resulted in set point for the Warriors at 24-20. A perfectly placed attack by junior opposite hitter Makayla Roginski sealed the deal and gave the Warriors a first set win.
Now holding a slight lead and beginning to see their offense connect, the Navy and Gold hustled out to a 16-8 lead and never looked back, as sophomore outside hitter Kendra Bittle finally gave the Warriors' their 16th point after the longest rally of the afternoon, with each side of the net having at least five opportunities apiece to put the ball on the ground before Bittle settled the decision. Corban's strength at the net would go on to propel them to a 2-0 set lead after a 25-15 set final.
Two one-sided sets in favor of the visitors finally irked the Lady Owls enough to hang tight with the Warriors throughout the third set before Corban eventually stretched the lead to 22-17. However, Oregon Tech scored the next six points to flip the scoreboard and take a 23-22 lead and forcing Coach McLain into utilizing both of her timeouts in an attempt to keep OIT from extending the match and forcing a fourth set.
Just like they did in the third set of their impressive reverse sweep last night against No. 5-ranked Southern Oregon, the Navy and Gold fought off set point when they trailed 24-23 and scored the next three points to secure the sweep in Klamath Falls at 26-24. Bittle registered her 15th kill to knot the match at 24-24, which would stand to represent the game-high mark for the second consecutive contest in her homecoming appearance to southern Oregon.
Bischoff was key in her all-around performance that saw the Medford native secure ten kills with a .333 attacking percentage, combined with a team-best 18 digs for her fifth double-double of the season and second-straight this weekend. Redshirt junior middle blocker Jadah Schmidtke added nine more kills, while senior middle blocker Allyson Reid and junior outside hitter Gracie Boeder pitched in six and five more, respectively.
Corban junior setter Abby Guindy was spectacular in the Warriors' final road game of September, as she dealt out 27 assists and was an enormous presence defensively with 13 digs. Sophomore setter Nadeiah Howard was right behind her at 23 dimes to give her 47 on the weekend.
Reid added four more block assists to her school record today while Schmidtke and Roginski found themselves in three blocks plays each. Meanwhile, senior libero Marissa Uehara continues to put in the work for the Warriors in the backcourt, securing 18 more digs to tie Bischoff for the team-high dig count today.
The defensive presence at the net by Corban resulted in just a .082 kill percentage for Oregon Tech, as outside hitter Courtney Green was one of the lone attackers in the positive with nine kills on 25 attempts. Outside hitter Molly Grace and middle blocker Aleksen Thayer each provided six kills apiece.
Lady Owls' libero Kaley Whalen was all over the court in her attempt to keep the Warriors' offense at bay, gobbling up a game-high 25 digs and assisting on four kills in the process. Setters Lucy Boyd and Paige Tevelde split 26 dimes equally while Boyd secured eight digs compared to five for Tevelde. Thayer was the game-high block leader with five block assists.
A long-awaited homecoming for the Warriors approaches at the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center next Friday the 20th, as they'll welcome the first of two ranked opponents over the weekend represented by RV College of Idaho (7-5, 3-1) at 6pm.
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