LEWISTON, Idaho – The Homecoming crowd was not disappointed after witnessing Lewis-Clark State Volleyball take down No. 23 Southern Oregon in the P1FCU Activity Center on Friday. It was a total-team effort in the Warriors' 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 18-25, 25-17) victory over the Raiders. The win is the LC State's second this season over a team receiving votes in the national poll, and the first victory over SOU under the guidance of
Shaun Pohlman.
"First and foremost, thank you to our amazing fans. They really brought the energy tonight and helped provide an amazing experience and home court advantage," Pohlman said. "Our team has pulled together in an amazing way and they are showing what LC State Volleyball is all about. We had to make quite a few adjustments and our team was able to do it quickly, and those adjustments saved us a ton of points. We do need to find a way to be a little more physical, but overall this is an amazing win over an extremely strong and well-decorated program."
The momentum seemed to belong to SOU as the Raiders took a 5-1 lead to begin the night. A block by
Jada Wyms and
Lisi Langi, and another by
Channa Hart and
Grecia Ung Enriquez, pulled the Warriors right back in at 5-4. A kill by Ung Enriquez opened up a three-point stretch that featured a kill by
Carli Berntson to tie the set, and an ace by Ung Enriquez to put the Warriors in front 9-8.
Kills by
Cassidy Nelson and Berntson, paired with an ace by
Ashlee Bachman, kept things rolling for LC State as the margin grew to 12-9. An ace dealt by
Esther Kailiponi forced an SOU timeout at 14-10, and another kill by Ung Enriquez sparked a four-point run that saw the advantage increase to 19-13. Wyms ended the first frame with a solo block at 25-16.
LC carried on into the second set with kills by Langi and Wyms, as well as an ace by Nelson, to take a 3-2 lead. SOU rallied to jump ahead 11-7, but errors by the Raiders pulled the Warriors back in before a kill by Langi evened things up 13-13. Kills by Langi and Ung Enriquez were followed by a block by Berntson and Hart to give LC a 16-14 edge.
SOU responded to regain the lead at 20-19 and start a short back and forth battle until four straight Warrior points pushed the score to set point, 24-21. Langi ended the set with a kill to give LC a 2-0 lead.
The Raiders turned the tables in the third set and cruised to a 25-18 victory, but the Warriors rebounded well in the fourth frame.
Wyms opened the final set with a kill and Nelson added another ace to her night to give LC a slim 2-0 lead. A pair of swings by Ung Enriquez were followed by a kill and block by Hart to grow the Warrior cushion to 8-3, and back-to-back points by Ung Enriquez and Nelson made it 10-4. SOU crept within two, 17-15, but a kill and ace by Ung Enriquez pushed the lead out to 19-15. Nelson added a pair of kills and Wyms tallied one during a four-point run to give LC a 23-16 advantage, and back-to-back kills by Nelson and Langi solidified the victory at 25-17.
The Warriors were efficient on offense with a .297 attack percentage. They dealt 11 service aces and put up 10 blocks to overpower SOU in every aspect of the match.
Ung Enriquez and Langi led LC State with 13 kills each, and Nelson was just behind with 12. Hart led the offense with a .556 attack percentage on five kills and put up a team-best six blocks.
Bachman, Ung Enriquez and Nelson each dealt three aces and Kailiponi had the other two. Kailiponi also led the Warriors in assists with 22, and
Vanja Tomic dished out 21.
Kenzie Dean led the defense with 21 digs.
SOU's Hailey Van Well tallied a match-high 16 kills and Simone Gordon had 11. Hannah Randall dished out 18 assists and Gwen Sheldon dealt 17. Trinity Atuatasi led the defense with 12 digs.
UP NEXT
Homecoming weekend continues on Saturday when the Warriors take on Oregon Tech at 5 p.m. in the P1FCU Activity Center.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
