ASHLAND, Oregon – The Lewis-Clark State volleyball team faced a tough pair of opponents on Friday with two top-20 teams. They opened the day against No. 20 Jamestown and fell 3-2 (25-21, 25-27, 19-25, 25-15, 15-9) after battling through five sets. In their second match of the day, the Warriors fell to No. 18 Vanguard 3-1 (25-19, 17-25, 25-18, 25-17).
GAME ONE: No. 20 Jamestown defeats LCSC 3-2 (25-21, 25-27, 19-25, 25-15, 15-9)
The Warriors battled a tough top-20 opponent to open the day and took the Jimmies to five sets before suffering their first loss of the season. Both Tori Edwards and Brooke Kaawa finished the match in double-digit kills with 17 and 16, respectively. Kaawa notched a double-double by adding 14 digs. Jess Ruffing dished out 36 assists.
"The difference between yesterday and today was setters," coach Shaun Pohlman said. "Because she (Ruffing) showed up our hitters did better and our passers felt calmer."
Kaawa got the scoring started for LC with a kill to even the opening set 1-1 before an attack error gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead. Three-straight Jamestown errors gave LC a 5-3 advantage, but Warrior errors gave the points right back. Edwards kept it close with a kill to keep LC within one at 7-6 before a Jordan Hunter kill and Carli Berntson and Denise Elder block evened things at 8-8. Berntson and Elder combined for another block and Hannah Pond served an ace to put the Warriors in front 11-9. Back-to-back kills from Kaawa pushed the advantage to 14-12. Sydney Lawrence, Edwards and Elder produced kills to give LC a 20-17 lead. The Jimmies battled back to take the set 25-21.
Edwards gave LC two of their first three points with kills on assists from Jess Ruffing and Lawrence. A kill by Kaawa and an ace from Pond grew the lead to 6-3. Two Jamestown errors and a Kaawa kill put the advantage at 9-4 to force a Jamestown timeout. The Jimmies rallied for four-straight to cut the Warrior lead to one at 9-8, but Kaawa tallied three kills to even the set 12-12. Kaawa stayed hot with a kill to give the Warriors an 18-17 lead, and an error by UJ made it 19-17. Three-straight kills from Kaawa, Lawrence and Edwards pushed the score to set point at 24-22 but UJ tied the set 24-24. Ruffing dealt the winning blow with a kill from Gionni Brown to give the Warriors the 27-25 set win and even the match 1-1.
The Warriors rattled off five-straight points to open the third set with kills from Channa Hart and Edwards, and a pair of aces from Ruffing. Edwards answered a point by the Jimmies with a kill to put LC in front 6-1. With the momentum on the Warriors' side, Edwards and Lawrence kept the kills coming to grow their advantage to 8-3. Jamestown rallied back to even the set 11-11. Back-to-back kills by Josye Miller and one from Edwards pushed the Warriors in front, and an ace from Kenzie Dean made it 16-11. After two UJ errors, a Kaawa kill and Lawrence block sent the Warriors into a timeout with a 22-17 lead. A service ace by Ruffing sealed the win in set three at 25-19 to put LC up 2-1.
Kaawa's 14th kill of the match gave LC the first point of the fourth set. Miller followed with one of her own, but the Jimmies bounced back to take a 3-2 lead. Edwards gave the Warriors back the lead with a kill to make to 4-3. Jamestown rallied to take a 14-9 lead before kills from Hart and Edwards kept LC close. The Jimmies pulled away to take the set 25-15 and tie the match 2-2.
The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead on kills from Kaawa and Elder in the deciding set. UJ battled back to take a 6-4 lead over the Warriors and force and LC timeout. They went on to take the set 15-9.
Edwards led the Warriors with 17 kills, followed closely by Kaawa with a career-high 16 kills. Ruffing dealt 36 assists and Brown had 27 digs. Pond added 15 digs and Kaawa picked up 14 for a double-double (16 kills, 14 digs).
"Jamestown is a team that is established and in the rankings every year," Pohlman added. "That team beat the team that is trying to build that. We are trying to build what we played against today and we took a loss, but we could've also lost 3-0, which we didn't, so that tells us that we are making good progress.
"We had people not doing their job and we still competed with a top-20 team, so that was a positive," Pohlman said. "At one point we had two freshmen and two sophomores on the court. Being able to compete at that level with youth is a pretty good sign for our future."
GAME TWO: No. 18 Vanguard defeats LCSC 3-1 (25-19, 17-25, 25-18, 25-17)
Vanguard jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead in the first set, but a kill by Lawrence got LC back in the game at 7-5. Ruffing brought the Warriors within one at 9-8 with a kill on an assist from Jordan Phelan, and a kill from Hunter and ace from Brown kept LC in the hunt. The Lions pulled away to take the set 25-19.
Ruffing opened the second set with a service ace and the Warriors held a 3-2 lead after a kill by Kaawa. A battle for the lead ensued as the teams found themselves tied eight times before the Warriors strung together five-straight points on blocks by Berntson, Elder and Hunter to take a 12-8 lead. Edwards answered a VU point with a kill, and a Lion error made it 14-9. An ace from Phelan, kill by Elder and an error made it five-straight points for LC to force a Vanguard timeout. The Lions struck for three, but a kill by Edwards helped the Warriors regain momentum at 20-12. A kill by Elder brought the score to set point and an error by VU gave LC a 25-17 set victory to tie the match 1-1.
Edwards opened set three with a kill from Josilyn Remick, but Vanguard surged ahead to take a 3-1 lead before another kill from Edwards stopped the run. A kill by Elder knotted the score 3-3 and a VU error put the Warriors in front 4-3. Vanguard took the lead at 8-7 and grew their lead to 12-8, but kills by Lawrence and Hunter kept things close. A kill by Edwards, an ace by Brown and block by Elder and Edwards cut the deficit to 18-15. Vanguard took set three by a score of 25-18 to take a 2-1 match lead.
Kills by Lawrence, Edwards and Hunter in the fourth set cut into the Vanguard lead to make it 7-4. VU took control of the set and closed out the match with a 25-17 to take the match 3-1.
Edwards led LC with 12 kills in the match. Ruffing and Remick each dished out 16 assists and Brown had 15 digs.
"We were slow to respond in a physical sense," Pohlman said. "We've got to learn quick that not all circumstances are going to be in our favor and we have to learn to be uncomfortable and get through it. Vanguard is a good team and there were good moments but we need to have consistency."
With the two losses, LC falls to 2-2 on the season. The Warriors wrap up the Raider Invitational tomorrow against Oregon Tech at 10 a.m. and No. 6 Southern Oregon at 2 p.m.
