BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark
volleyball team opened Northwest Conference action in style, taking
down rival George Fox 3-2 on Friday night in the Pamplin Sports
Complex. The Pioneers improve to 5-6 on the season (1-0 NWC), while
the Bruins fall to 5-5 (0-1 NWC).
The Pioneers were led offensively by 18 kills from junior
Margaret Dowling and 14 from sophomore Jenn Dowdy. Leia Matsunaga
finished with 46 assists and a team-leading 22 digs. Dowdy finished
with 20 digs, while Lou Ohki chipped in 19. Freshman Alicia Callejo-Black ended her night with four block assists and one block
solo.
For the Bruins, Cassie Irwin knocked down 13 kills, while
Stephanie Kerr finished with 12. Ali Toedtemeier had a game high 49
assists. Chelsea Wilson led the Bruins defensively with 31 digs,
while Eliza Pledger had a game-high four block solos.George Fox
came out strong in the opening set, jumping ahead to a 5-1 lead.
The Pioneers rallied to tie the set 5-5 and stuck close to the
Bruins the rest of the way. With the set tied 19-19, back-to-back
Pioneer kills gave the team its third lead of the set. George Fox
would call a timeout to regroup, but it would be a little too late
as the Pios cruised to a 25-21 victory.
Lewis & Clark and George Fox traded points to open the
second set as both teams were tied 7-7, before the Bruins opened
the scoring, taking a 19-14 lead. The Pioneers tried to fight their
way back into the set, but the Bruins were able to close out the
set to tie the match 1-1 with a 25-19 win.
After jumping out early in the third set, the Pioneers took
their largest lead at 19-9. The Bruins would only manage to pick up
five more points the remainder of the set, as the Pios took a
dominating 25-14 win.
The fourth set proved to be a nail biter with the two teams
fighting for every point. After trading points, Lewis & Clark
took a 10-7 lead, the largest by either team up to that point.
George Fox came from behind to tie the set 17-17 before capturing a
23-19 advantage. The Pios then came back to tie the set 23-23, but
a service error by Lewis & Clark handed the lead back to the
Bruins with the set point waiting to be served from George Fox. A
huge kill from Dowling tied the set once again, leading to a series
of back and forth's between the two sides, with each team looking
like they were going to pick up the victory. Lewis & Clark took
a 28-27 lead, but George Fox ruined the game point with a kill by
Irwin. With the serve in their hands, the Bruins forced two
consecutive Pioneer errors to pick-up the hard fought 30-28
win.
The Pioneers took control in the fifth set, taking an 8-4 lead
before the two teams switched sides. The break did little to throw
off the Pioneers rhythm as they cruised to a 15-11 win.
Lewis & Clark returns to the court on Saturday, Sept. 18 at
7 p.m. when they host Pacific (Ore.) in a NWC contest.
