BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. - After falling behind 24-19 in
the fourth set, the Lewis & Clark volleyball team rallied back
to win 29-27 for a 3-1 victory over the Pacific (Ore.) Boxers on
Saturday night in Northwest Conference action. The Pioneers improve
to 6-6 on the season and a perfect 2-0 in conference action, while
the Boxers fall to 1-9 overall and 0-2 in the NWC.
The Pioneers were led offensively by junior Margaret Dowling who
finished the night with a game-high 16 kills, while contributing 11
digs. Senior Kat Fielder finished with 10 kills, while freshman
Alicia Callejo-Black added eight. Leia Matsunaga finished with a
game-high 38 assists. Defensively, Fiedler ended with two block
assists and a block solo.
Kelsy Takashima led the Boxers with 14 kills, while Alexa Block
chipped in 13. Danica Thompson ended her night with 27 assists.
Jade Thompson led Pacific with 27 digs.
After opening the first set with a 1-0 lead, the Pioneers would
not be in control of the score until a Boxer attacking error broke
the 20-20 deadlock. The Pioneer lead would be short lived however,
with Takashima recapturing the Boxer lead, 22-21, on a service ace.
Pacific would take advantage of two Pioneer errors and an Alexa
Block kill to earn a 25-22 win.
The second set began similarly to the first, with the Pioneers
earning an early 1-0 lead just to have it quickly overtaken by the
Boxers. This time around Lewis & Clark would reclaim the lead
early on and not let it go. A monster kill by Fiedler regained the
Pio lead at 4-3, paving the way for the Pios overpowering
performance. An ace by Sarah Sandholtz gave the Pioneers their
largest lead of set, 21-11, after a Boxer miscue left two players
standing around. Freshman Gabby Hands closed out the set for the
Pioneers with an ace of her own, giving her team the 25-16 win to
even the match at 1-1.
Six Boxer attacking errors helped guide the Pioneers to an 8-0
lead in the opening moments of the third set. An ace by Molly Donahue increased the Pio lead to 14 points, 19-5, as L&C
continued to put the pressure on the Boxers. Pacific would double
their points before the set ended, but that would be as much
offense as the team could muster as the Pios earned a 25-14
win.
Lewis & Clark opened the fourth set strong, running up a 6-0
lead before the Boxers could get on the board. Pacific would
capture the lead at 13-12 courtesy of an attacking error by the
Pios. The Boxers would keep the Pioneers at bay throughout the set,
always staying on top of their competitor by a point or two. A kill
by Takashima would put the Boxers one point away from a victory in
the fourth set, increasing her teams lead to 24-19. Just when the
Boxers appeared poised to earn the set point, a kill by
Callejo-Black would keep the Pios in the set. The Pioneers would
hold the Boxers to set point seven times, before taking a 28-27
lead on a Pacific error. With match point on the line, Dowling
would serve up her second ace of the day to earn the Pios a 29-27
victory.
The Pioneers return to the court on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. when they
host Pacific Lutheran in NWC action.
