PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College volleyball swept West Coast Baptist College to earn a split on Day 1 of the Oregon Trail Classic on Friday at Pamplin Gymnasium. 
 
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 3, West Coast Baptist 0
Schreiner 3, Lewis & Clark 0
(Lewis & Clark 3-3) 
(West Coast Baptist 0-2)  
(Schreiner 4-4) 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Annika Traxler and Izzy Willis each recorded 25 kills on the day to help Lewis & Clark win their first home match since October 9, 2021.
 
MATCH ONE RECAP: LEWIS & CLARK 3, WCBC 0

The Pioneers dominated the first two sets, holding the Eagles to just 19 total points, to cruise to their third win of the season. 
 
Traxler was on fire in the opener. The junior tied her career-high with 13 kills and hit an impressive .632 over three sets. She did not commit an error and posted 13 kills on just 19 swings, to go along with nine digs and three aces. 
 
Willis was just behind her teammate. The senior posted 11 kills (.250 hitting percentage) for her career-high fifth-straight match with double-digit kills. 
 
Junior Bethany Ballesteros just missed out on a career-high of her own. The setter registered a season-high 15 assists and tied Traxler with three aces. 
 
Freshmen Isabel Melean-Williams had her biggest match of the season as she got a run at setter and posted eight put-ups. 
 
Senior Katie Shimaura matched Traxler with nine digs to lead the team. 
 
Friday's opening match proved to be the Pioneers most dominant statistically of the season thus far. They hit .313 while holding the Eagles to a -.048 hitting percentage. Lewis & Clark led in every major category including a 32-12 edge in kills, 10-3 lead in aces and 32-24 advantage in digs. 
 
MATCH TWO RECAP: SCHREINER 3, LEWIS & CLARK 0
 
The final match of the day proved to be one of, if not the, most competitive match on Friday at Pamplin. 
 
The Pioneers and Mountaineers went back-and-forth in a 25-23 first set and while the second two sets ended slightly more comfortably for the visitors, all three sets featured long rallies and very few extended runs either way. 
 
Willis led the Pioneers in the nightcap with a match-high 14 kills. She added eight digs and a block assist. 
 
Traxler kept her strong play going with 13 kills (.270 hitting percentage), four digs and one assist. 
 
Freshman Ruby Kuerschner finished tops on the team with 15 assists and chipped in 10 digs and a team-high two aces. Ballesteros added 12 assists and six digs. 
 
Shimaura finished with twice as many digs as anyone else on the floor with 22 on the night. She added six assists. 
 
The first set was extremely competitive. The two teams combined for eight ties and three lead changes and neither side led by more than five points in the set. 
 
Schreiner took their largest lead at 21-16 and looked like they were destined to pull away for the set win. The Pioneers responded with a 4-0 run. After a pair of Mountaineers attack errors, a Willis kill made it 21-19 and a bad set by the visitors cut it to 21-20. Schreiner pushed their advantage back out to 23-20 and 24-21, but the Pioneers wouldn't give in. An attack error gave the Pioneers an important side out and Kuerschner found Willis for a huge kill to put the Pioneers within one. Schreiner closed it out with a kill from Taylor Braxton to take the set 25-23. 
 
After a 25-17 second set for Schreiner, Lewis & Clark showed a ton of fight in the third set. They trailed 7-2 early and were down 18-14 late in the set. The Pioneers responded with four-straight points all on Traxler kills from Kuerschner. The two teams would trade the next two points, before the Mountaineers used a 6-0 run to close out the set and the match. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Friday's matches were the first home non-conference matches the volleyball team has hosted since September 11, 2021. Their win over West Coast Baptist was the team's first on their home court since a 3-0 sweep over Whitman College (October 9, 2021). 
• Traxler, who moved to a new position heading into her junior season, has broken out offensively. After not reaching double-digit kills in 29 matches her first two years, she has already accomplished the feat four times in six matches this year-including in each of the past three contests. 
• Kuerschner's double-double against Schreiner was the second of her career and first since the opening match of the season. 
• Willis is already more than halfway to her season total for kills from a year ago in just six matches. The senior has racked up 81 kills (4.05 per set) in less than a third of the sets she played as a junior. She now has 525 kills for her career. 
• With their win in the opener, Lewis & Clark has now eclipsed their win total from 2022 in just five matches.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
The Pioneers will close out the Oregon Trail Classic and non-conference play on Saturday. Lewis & Clark will travel to Linfield University at 10 a.m. to play McMurry University. In the afternoon, the Pioneers will play Wells College at George Fox University.