KIRKLAND, Wash. – Lewis-Clark State College Volleyball picked up its third straight road win on Saturday evening against Northwest University. Both teams battled for five sets until LC came out on top, with match scores of 23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 24-26 and 15-7. Grecia Ung Enriquez was active, leading the team with 20 kills, and Cassidy Nelson also added 19 of her own.
 
The victory was key because it ties LC State with College of Idaho for sixth place in the Cascade Conference, with the top six moving on to the conference tournament.
 
"Such a great week of play coming off two very heartbreaking weeks," Head Coach Shaun Pohlman said. "These wins set us up for a better possibility to see a postseason playoff match. Northwest University's gym is a tough place to play and they are a tough team. It's already hard to win on the road so, given the conditions, it was incredible to watch our team push ahead and overcome it."
 
The Warriors answered an opening two points by the Eagles with two LC points thanks to a pair of Northwest errors. NU jumped out to a 10-6 lead before an ace by Kendzee Cloward capped a three-point stretch to bring LC within one. The Eagle maintained a steady lead over the Warriors until a run of four with kills by Nelson and a block by Channa Hart and Tori Edwards tied the set 23-23. Northwest rattled off back-to-back points to end the set.
 
LC came out firing in the second. Trailing 2-1 to the hosting Eagles, the Warriors rallied for six points with a pair of kills and a block from Nelson. Northwest answered to take an 11-10 advantage, but an LC rally of five, aided by kills by Ung Enriquez and Carli Berntson, and blocks by Berntson, Nelson and Hallie Seaman, put the Warriors back in front 15-11. A kill by Ung Enriquez and an ace by Cloward ended the set with LC ahead 25-23.
 
The third set was a close battle until late. Northwest took a 15-11 before the Warriors used kills by Ung Enriquez, a block by Berntson and Seaman and an ace by Hannah Martinez to go ahead 17-16. A four-point made up of a block by Seaman, kill by Nelson and back-to-back aces by Kierstyn York moved the lead to 23-18, and back-to-back kills by Nelson and Berntson closed out the set 25-20.
 
Northwest regained its momentum in the fourth and took a 12-5 advantage. A 6-1 Warrior run cut the deficit to two at 17-15, and a block by Berntson and NU error tied the set 23-23. The Eagles took the set in extra points at 26-24.
 
NU took a quick 2-0 lead in the deciding set, but a kill by Nelson and an Eagle error evened things up. Four kills by Ung Enriquez, a block by Seaman and a swing by Edwards fueled a seven-point run to give LC a commanding 10-4 cushion, and three straight points on kills by Hart and Nelson, and a block by Hart and Berntson, capped the match with LC ahead 15-7.
 
Ung Enriquez led the Warrior offense with 20 kills on an attack percentage of .436, and Nelson was just behind her with 19. Martinez and Jess Ruffing dished out 25 and 23 assists, respectively, while Kenzie Dean and Cloward collected 22 and 19 digs, respectively.
 
The Warriors wrap up their regular-season road matches next weekend with a trip to Portland to take on Multnomah and Warner Pacific. LC takes on the Lions on Friday at 7 p.m. and the Knights on Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
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