LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State volleyball team opened the 2019 Red Lion Invitational on Friday with a pair of wins over Cascade Collegiate Conference teams. They fought from behind to take down Warner Pacific in three sets, before handing Northwest Christian its first loss of the season.
"Those are two really solid teams that you can't sleep on," coach Shaun Pohlman said of the two future conference opponents. "You know that it is going to be a battle."
With the two victories, the Warriors now sit at a record of 4-4 on the young season.
"It was great to turn the tables from last weekend," Pohlman said. "We talked about it all week long. Fight and don't give up, no matter what side of the score board you're on."
MATCH ONE: LCSC defeats Warner Pacific 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 27-25)
The Warriors got the Red Lion Invitational started with a 3-0 sweep of Warner Pacific (Ore.). After quick victories in the first two sets, LC battled into extra time to take the final set 27-25.
Tori Edwards put the Warriors up 2-0 to begin the opening set before kills by Morgan Ness and Sydney Lawrence grew the lead to 4-1. The Knights evened the match at six apiece, but a kill by Denise Elder and a pair by Ness put the Warriors in front 9-6. A run of four, all on WPU errors, brought the advantage to 13-7, before a Ness kill and two aces from Josilyn Remick gave LC a six-point lead at 16-10. Brooke Kaawa, Edwards and Carli Berntson provided the final push to give the Warriors a 25-16 win in set one.
The Warriors had to play from behind after facing a 9-3 deficit in the second set. A kill by Jordan Hunter sparked a four-point rally that featured two aces from Hannah Pond and a block by Berntson and Elder to bring LC within one at 10-9. Three kills by Ness and one by Edwards put the Warriors in front 14-12 before a five-point rally with kills by Elder and aces from Jess Ruffing stretched the lead to 22-15. LC took the set 25-18.
The third set was a back-and-forth battle into overtime that saw the Warriors battling from behind once again. Facing a 15-10 deficit, the Warriors rattled off seven-straight to regain the lead. After an error by the Knights got the ball rolling, Gionni Brown served up an ace and Channa Hart and Josye Miller put up a big block. Three more WPU errors were followed by a kill by Miller to put the Warriors up 17-15. The two teams battled to hold the lead until LC strung a pair of points together with the final blow coming from a block by Berntson and Elder to seal the victory 27-25.
Ness led the Warriors in kills with 12, followed closely by Edwards with 10. Remick dealt 21 assists and Brown led with 20 digs.
MATCH TWO: LCSC defeats Northwest Christian 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-22)
The Warriors battled back from the edge of defeat to take the first set against the undefeated Beacons. Ness got the scoring started for LC in the final match of the night with an assist from Remick. Lawrence joined in on the fun with a kill to even the set 3-3, and Kaawa did the same at 4-4. The Warriors put together a run of three with a kill by Lawrence and an ace by Remick to take a 10-7 lead over the Beacons. LC grew the advantage to 13-9 before the Beacons gained momentum to tie things up 15-15. A four-point run put NCU up by a score of 20-16, but the rally was cut with kills by Ness and Edwards. Lawrence played a ball off a block and shot it into the back right corner to keep the Warriors within two at 21-19. LC fought off four set points with kills by Edwards and Kaawa, and a block by Elder to tie the set 24-24. Kills by Berntson and an NCU error pushed the Warriors to a 26-24 set win.
Lawrence put the Warriors on top first in the second set with a kill from Remick. The Beacons quickly jumped in front 4-3. Edwards and Berntson went back-to-back to put LC up 7-6. A service ace by Elyse Booker and kill by Lawrence kept the Warriors front 13-11. Gionni Brown got the entire Activity Center on their feet with acrobatic kill to extend the Warrior lead 16-12. LC continued to battle with the talented Beacons before a kill by Elder pushed the score to set point at 24-21. A kill by Berntson put the Beacons away in the second set by a final of 25-22.
The Warriors and Beacons battled for the lead through the first part of the third set. Kaawa gave LC a 3-2 lead with a kill, and Brown added to it with an ace to make it 4-2. After a small run by Northwest Christian, a big solo block by Berntson gave the Warriors an 8-7 advantage. Ness added to the run to make it three-straight with a kill of the block to bring the lead to 10-7. Elder, Ness and Berntson kept the offense coming with kills, all from Ruffing, before Remick added an ace to give LC a 14-11 advantage and force a timeout. Edwards and Ness added to the barrage coming out of the break to put the Warriors up by five.
Northwest Christian pulled their way back into the match to creep within one at 19-18, but a well-placed kill by Kaawa kept the Beacons back by two. A Kaawa kill brought the score to match point at 24-22. An NCU error gave LC the set win at 25-22, and the match win at 3-0.
"I can see that we are making good strides and I think everyone has an idea of what kind of team we want to be and is willing to work for it and fight for it," Pohlman said.
Kaawa led the Warriors in the match with 14 kills. Remick dished out 23 assists, followed y Ruffing with 16. Brown led LC with 17 digs while Jordan Phelan and Pond each had 13.
The Warriors conclude the Red Lion Invitational on Saturday. They will take on Columbia Bible College at 1 p.m. before facing Warner Pacific again at 5 p.m.
