LEWISTON, Idaho - The Lewis-Clark State Volleyball team fell to the Oregon Tech Hustlin Owls Saturday evening in four sets. After taking the initial set 25-19, the Warriors lost each of the remaining sets 25-16, 25-18, and 25-17.
"As coaches you try to navigate whether or not there is something you can be doing as a coach versus player and try to figure out how can you be more effective," Head Coach Shawn Pohlman explained. "I think what we figured out this week is that at the end of the day it has to be the players who make the choices".
LC State took a commanding 7-2 lead in the opening set after Jess Ruffing set up a Josie Peters kill. The Owls, however, turned the tides to pull ahead 9-8 as a result of an LC attack error. Points were traded back and forth until the Warriors ended the match on a 7-3 run, capped off by back-to-back Oregon Tech errors to take the first set 25-19.
Peters led the way for LC with five kills in the first set, and Tori Edwards added four kills of her own. Ruffing and Hannah Martinez combined for 13 assists in the opening set as well.
In the second set the Hustlin Owls jumped out to a 20-11 advantage. A 4-1 run for the Warriors aided by back-to-back kills from Cassidy Nelson brought the score to within six. LC only managed one more point the rest of the set as Oregon Tech took the frame 25-16 to tie up the match 1-1.
The third set began with consecutive kills from Peters and Carli Berntson. This set was a nail bitter as neither squad had more than a two-point lead until the Owls went up 20-17. Oregon Tech finished out the set on a 6-1 run with a final score of 25-18. Jada Wyms had a team-high three kills in the third set.
A rousing speech from Pohlman between sets and two Edwards kills pushed the Warriors out to a 5-2 lead in the fourth set. An 8-2 run by the Owls followed by a 5-0 run by LC State had the score at 12-10, in favor of the Warriors, following a Peters kill. Oregon Tech returned the favor with a 3-0 streak of its own until another Peters kill tied things up at 13. The Hustlin Owls outscored the Warriors 12-4 to take the fourth set by a score of 25-17 and win the match 3-1.
Edwards was the team leader in kills with 11, as Peters and Nelson each picked up 10 of their own. Wyms and Berntson each had two blocks apiece to tie for the team high. Martinez and Ruffing combined for 35 in the distribution department, with 18 and 17, respectively. Kenzie Dean battled her way to 17 digs and Peters added 16.
Oregon Tech was led by Faith Houch-Wylie with 11 kills, Courtney Isom added 15 assists, and Aubrey Kievit contributed 23 digs.
LC is on the road next week with a trip to College of Idaho on Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. PST followed by No. 14 Eastern Oregon Sept. 11 at 5 p.m.
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