ASHLAND, Ore. – The Lewis-Clark State Volleyball Team picked up two wins to close out the Southern Oregon Raiders Tournament, defeating Northwest Christian 3-1 (25-11, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17) and Simpson 3-1 (25-15, 25-14, 25-27, 25-20).
 
Eight games into the young season, the Warriors are 6-2 with their only losses coming to nationally ranked teams.
 
"We have seen five-set matches and tight matches. We have gotten every single player on the team playing time and, we have struggled both with and without response and we have overcome some deficiencies," head coach Shaun Pohlman said. "To be able to do that and go 6-2 with only losses to nationally-ranked programs might have some indication of where we may go. Right now, the best thing this team can do is put their head down and go to work and let the process take care of the outcome because we are just not there yet."
 
As the season progresses, key players on the court are beginning to shine for the Warriors.
 
"Sydney Lawrence is just finding a way to make things happen, especially in scoring points," coach Pohlman said of the junior. "Gionni Brown brings energy to the court and also makes things happen defensively. She gets touches on the ball and keeps us alive in that regard," he said of the team's libero.
 
LCSC defeats Northwest Christian 3-1 (25-11, 25-21, 22-25, 25-17)
 
The Warriors offense dominated in the first game of the day, highlighted by Rachel Gregg's 16 kills and efficient hitting from Alexa Van Vleet (.688) and Sydney Lawrence (.538). After sailing through the first two sets, the Warriors hit a speed bump in the third before coming back stronger in the fourth to down the Northwest Christian Beacons.
 
LCSC was in the driver's seat from the beginning of the first set.  Lawrence gave the Warriors their first lead of the game at 5-4 with an assist from Gionni Brown. The two teams continued to trade points until the Warrios put together an 11-1 run pushed the advantage to 20-9. The rally included a pair of kills from Van Vleet and three from Aubrey King while Gregg contributed three kills and a two aces. A King kill brought the score to set point before Brooke Kaawa slammed the ball down to take the first set 25-11.
 
Gregg snapped a three-point run by the Beacons to start the second set with a kill to get LCSC on the board. Kaawa produced back-to-back aces to give the Warriors their first lead of the set at 8-6, but Northwest Christian picked up momentum to go on a 7-2 run and jumped out to a 15-11 lead. King and Van Vleet went back-to-back to get LCSC back in the game. Hayley Alvarez stepped up with a big service ace to cut the Warriors' deficit to two points before back-to-back kills from Kaawa knotted the set at 19-19. Gregg capped the six-point Warrior run with a kill to put LCSC in front 20-19. The Beacons attempted to start a rally coming out of a timeout, but a kill from Gregg and two aces from Hannah Pond quickly shut it down, and a kill from Lauren West gave the Warriors a 25-21 win in set two.
 
Madeline Taylor served up an ace to give the Warriors their first lead of the third set at 4-3. Northwest Christian built a 10-8 lead over LCSC, but a well-placed kill and a service ace tied the set at 10 apiece. The teams battled to an 18-18 tied in the set before a kill from Van Vleet put the Warriors back on top 19-18. Gregg recorded three kills to push the lead to 22-19, but a four-point run by Northwest Christian had the Warriors trailing 23-22 as they called a timeout. The Beacons stayed hot and won the set 25-22.
 
Mikayla Seller-Wiebe, Gregg, and Van Vleet produced three-straight kills to put LCSC on top 3-2 in the fourth set. A kill by Gregg sparked a 9-1 run by the Warriors to take a commanding 15-8 lead, aided by two aces from Brown as well as kills from King, Lawrence and West. The Warriors ended the set and the match with back-to-back kills from Lawrence to seal the 25-17 victory to take the match 3-1.
 
Gregg notched a double-double with a season-high in both kills (16) and digs (10). Van Vleet and King both found themselves in double-digit kills with 11 each. West tallied 50 assists and Brown led the defense with 32 digs.
 
As a team, the Warriors recorded 11 service aces, with Gregg, Brown, Pond and Kaawa each chipping in a pair. LCSC hit at a clip of .326 with Van Vleet leading with an impressive .688 with Lawrence not far behind at .538 and King at .450.
 
LCSC defeats Simpson 3-1 (25-15, 25-14, 25-27, 25-20)  
 
Gregg continued to be an offensive powerhouse for the Warriors, slamming down two kills to give LCSC an early 2-1 lead. Back-to-back kills from Lawrence pushed the lead to three at 7-4 and the Warriors did not let off the gas pedal for the rest of the set. A five-point run, powered by a kill and service ace from King, pushed the lead to 20-9, before she added back-to-back kills to win the set at 25-15.
 
A four-point run gave LCSC a 7-4 lead in the second set, fueled by three kills from King. After Simpson knotted the score at 8-8, Lawrence sent down three-straight kills to put LCSC back on top 11-8. Gregg went on a tear with five kills in a span of six Warrior points before a Brown ace had the Warriors up 21-13 and LCSC went on to win the set 25-14.
 
The Warriors opened the third set with four-straight kills to jump out to an early lead. Three different Warriors contributed in a 5-2 run for LCSC, including kills from Kaawa, Alvarez and King, and an ace from Lawrence which helped extend the advantage to 15-10. A Simpson rally brought the Red Hawks within one, but Olivia Jarvis swung the momentum back in favor of the Warriors and a Jordan Phelan ace put LCSC back up by three at 18-15. Josye Miller earned her first collegiate kill in the set to extend the lead to 19-16, but Simpson battled back to tie the set 25-25 before going on to take the set 27-25.
 
LCSC came out swinging in the fourth set, logging four kills from four different Warriors to take a 4-1 lead. After a tug of war, Simpson tallied four-straight to take a 13-12 lead. King sparked a 7-1 rally for LCSC to distance the Warriors from the Red Hawks and give them a 19-15 lead in the set, but Simpson quickly answered with three to cut the lead to one. West caught the Simpson defense off guard when she went up to set and sent an attack over the net that dropped in for a kill, but the Red Hawks were not going down without a fight, tying the contest at 20 apiece. The Warriors came out of a timeout firing, striking for four to bring the game to match point at 24-20 and Van Vleet ended the match with a kill from West.
 
With the two wins, LCSC finished the Southern Oregon Raider Tournament with a 4-1 record, falling only to No. 13 Southern Oregon.
 
King led the offense in the second game of the day with a career-high 19 kills, and Gregg tied her career-high with 17. Gregg also recorded 19 digs to notch a double-double in the victory. West dished out 52 assists and Brown had 19 digs.
 
LCSC brought their total service aces to 20 on the day with nine in game two.
 
After today, the Warriors improve to 6-2 on the season and take to the court again on Sept. 7 when they face Mayville State at the University of Providence Tournament in Great Falls, Mont. At 3 p.m.