FULLERTON, Calif. –After a tough first day at the Hope International University Labor Day Classic at the Darling Pavilion, the Lewis-Clark State College volleyball team regrouped and earned a pair of sweeps, including an upset of NAIA preseason No. 9 Vanguard University, on Saturday.
 
The Warriors looked like a team that deserved to be ranked on the second day of the Classic with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-20) win over Vanguard, before dispatching the host Royals in three as well, 25-15, 25-18, 25-15.
 
"I'm very proud of my team," said Warriors Head Coach LaToya Harris-Alexander. "We learned from the matches we lost, trusted in ourselves and brought more energy and fight. "
 
It wasn't just that LC won, but the way in which they did. Lewis-Clark State limited the unforced errors that plagued them on Friday and displayed the type of offensive firepower that had Harris-Alexander so excited to begin the season.
 
"As long as we pass well and focus on the first touch our offense is going to flow," said Harris-Alexander. "That happened today, we cleaned up our fundamentals and everyone contributed on offense so the defense couldn't focus on one player. It was fun to watch."
 
In a reversal, it was the Warriors taking advantage of another team's mistakes in the first match against the Lions. While LC's offense was clicking, VU struggled with theirs, committing a pair of attack errors in the first six points. LC State maintained a five point cushion until Vanguard tied the set at 15. The poised Warriors fired back, scoring 10 of the final 14 points including the last four to seal a 1-0 advantage.
 
Amber Hillestad started set two with a pair of service aces, but two kills tied the game at 2. The offense then got on a roll for LC as they scored 10-of-11 points, the lone Lions tally coming on a service error, to open a 12-2 lead. From there LCSC kept VU from scoring more than two consecutive points en route to a commanding 25-12 win.
 
It was a pair of long rallies that again propelled the Warriors to the decisive third set win. After a back and forth affair early, LC scored 8-of-9 points to go from down one to up five, 21-16. A block by Justine Cota and Stephanie Ovtiz gave LC match point and Ovitz sealed the sweep with a kill from Shaelyn Pearson.
 
Clute led the offense with 12 kills while hitting .364 with Ovtiz adding six kills and hitting .375. Rachel Gregg tallied five kills to go with nine digs and four blocks with Hillestad totaling 16 assists.
 
The Warriors were equally as dominant in the final game of the Classic, hitting .359 in the match and limiting the Royals to a .111 mark. The biggest statistical margins for LC came at the service line and at the net as the Warriors held a 9-2 advantage in service aces and a 9-3 mark in blocks.
 
Hope International held an early lead, 4-3, in set one, but a six point run, anchored by a pair of Pearson aces, put LC in front 9-4. Two more large runs of four and five points helped the Warriors secure the first set, 25-15.
 
The second set saw LCSC open a 9-4 lead and neither team could build large rallies after that. The teams traded side-outs for most of the match until a three-point spurt by the Warriors made it 23-16 and four points later Maya Williamson won the set with a kill.
 
A block by Gregg and Cota got the Warriors on the board in set number three and Clute followed with three consecutive kills for a 4-1 advantage. The Royals got close several times, but the Warriors responded by scoring in bunches with several three-point rallies followed by a five point run to make it 22-12. A Gregg kill gave LC match point and Jordan Phelan sealed the sweep with a service ace.
 
Clute again had a match-high 13 kills, giving her double-digits in every match in 2016. Gregg and Cota each tallied seven with Ovitz and Barton chipping in six each. Hillestad and Pearson combined for 34 of 38 assists in the match with Ovitz leading the defense with 11 digs. Williamson had a team-high five blocks and Pearson added five aces.
 
The Warriors will spend an extra day in California to do some team bonding before returning home to get healthy and work on improving their mistakes. LCSC doesn't take the court again until Friday, Sept. 16 when the open Frontier Conference play against Montana Tech at 7 p.m. in the Activity Center.
 
"Tomorrow we are going to spend some time together as a team and focus on being a family," said Harris-Alexander on her team's plans with two weeks off. "This team is one of the closest I've seen and it will help us compete together and fight when times are tough. When we return to campus we'll focus on getting healthy, watch some tape to see what we're doing well and how we can continue to get better to achieve our goals."