ATHERTON, Calif. – The season-opening road trip concluded on Saturday afternoon with a split in Atherton, Calif. LC State Volleyball opened the day with a 3-1 victory over Menlo (Calif.) (25-13, 25-17, 19-25, 25-14) before dropping the final match of the weekend in five sets to UC Merced (25-23, 9-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12).
"Yesterday we were at 75 percent and I would say that number improved by a lot today, even though one of the matches didn't end in our favor," Head Coach
Shaun Pohlman said. "We got a chance to see Menlo play yesterday during their match against Simpson and the team could see quickly that we would need to show up in a big way if we were to get the win and we did just that. It was a big stride in the right direction."
The Warriors played five matches in three days and return home with a 4-1 record. Of the teams in the Cascade Conference that competed this weekend, including multiple top-25 teams, LC State remained undefeated the longest.
"UC Merced is a good team and the perfect opponent to help us prepare for conference," Pohlman added. "They remind me a lot of the top six teams in our conference and the match offered a great opportunity to understand what we need to work on and improve. A loss might be a tough way to finish out the weekend, but if you look at the stats, it would look like we won. The team competed well and we got better and that was a big goal of ours in coming down to California."
Throughout the weekend, LC State saw multiple impressive performances from returners as well as newcomers.
"Our newcomers deserve a lot of credit," Pohlman said. "You come to expect it from Lisi (Langi) as a senior, but our sophomore Maddie Kammuller, and freshmen Jules Forgach Aguilar and
Esther Kailiponi have stepped up in such a big way and filled many gaps in our team. We couldn't make this progress without them and it's exciting to see a recruited class make such a strong impact already."
MATCH ONE: LC State def. Menlo 3-1 (25-13, 25-17, 19-25, 25-14)
The first set of the match marked the first time Menlo allowed more than 19 points so far this season, with LC State taking the opening frame in commanding fashion.
Cassidy Nelson got things started with a kill on the first ball of the match, and
Grecia Ung Enriquez followed to make it a quick 2-0 lead. Nelson dealt an ace to cap to the three-point opening run. An attack error by Menlo made it 4-1, and a block by
Lisi Langi and
Channa Hart kept the stretch alive. Ung Enriquez added back-to-back kills to finish off the run of four at 7-1.
Ung Enriquez continued her offensive roll as the margin continued to grow to 9-2, but the Oaks were able together five straight to cut the LC lead to 9-7. A pair of Menlo errors swung the momentum back to the Warriors and a kill by Nelson pushed the advantage back to five at 12-7. The LC State lead was extended to 21-11 with the help of kills from Langi and Nelson, as well back-to-back aces by Nelson. Ung Enriquez returned to the rotation and tallied a kill at 22-13, and an ace by
Kenzie Dean made it set point. Langi and Hart teamed up for a block to end the set a point later.
Langi tallied a kill before teaming up with
Jada Wyms to put the Warriors up 2-1 in the second frame. Two kills by Ung Enriquez fueled a four-point rally to grow the lead to 7-3, but Menlo responded with three straight points to pull within one. Ung Enriquez added a service ace to her day and Nelson took advantage of an overpass to push the advantage back to 10-6.
Menlo was denied at the net by Hart and Forgach Aguilar to kick start a five-point stretch that featured kills by Nelson and Ung Enriquez to make it 15-7. Wyms and Langi teamed up at the net for a pair of blocks for an eight-point cushion, and back-to-back kills by Ung Enriquez gave her 10 in the match and a 21-12 LC State lead in the set. A kill by Hart and solo block by Nelson ended the frame at 25-17.
The Oaks came out firing in the third set with six straight points before a kill by Langi snapped the skid. Menlo picked back up for another rally to grow its lead to 10 at 13-3. Hart tallied the second LC kill of the set and Ung Enriquez served an ace to cut he deficit to 14-7. Back-to-back kills by Ung Enriquez and Wyms kept the Warriors in the mix as part of a six-point stretch. Wyms and Langi denied Menlo at the net before an ace by Nelson brought LC within three at 18-15. The Warriors fought off one set point with a kill from Ung Enriquez, but ultimately dropped the frame 25-19.
Four straight Menlo errors gave LC a 4-2 lead in the fourth set before a kill by Langi capped the five-point stretch. The Warriors rattled off four straight kills with swings from Wyms, Langi and two from Ung Enriquez to make it 9-3. A block by Forgach Aguilar and Hart was followed by a kill by Ung Enriquez as part of a three-point rally to grow the lead to 12-4. LC extended the advantage with a run of four on kills by Nelson and Wyms, along with an ace by Hart, to push the score to 18-9.
Nelson started a four-point rally with a kill before adding her fifth ace of the match. Wyms avoided a Menlo block to help the lead to 23-12.
Josie Peters came into the game and delivered the match-ending kill.
Ung Enrique finished with a match-leading 16 kills with a .355 attack percentage. Nelson added eight kills and five aces, and Wyms tallied six kills and four blocks. Langi was impressive at the net with seven blocks to go with five kills.
Jennah Carpenter dished out 14 assist and Kailiponi added 10. Dean had nine assists along with 17 digs.
The Warriors served up nine aces and put up 10 total blocks.
MATCH TWO: UC Merced def. LC State 3-2 (25-23, 9-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12)
After a quick 3-0 start by the Bobcats, a kill by Langi and an ace by Nelson put LC on the board. Back-to-back kills by Ung Enriguez sparked a four-point stretch to tie the set 8-8, aided by a kill by Hart and ace by Kailiponi. LC State took advantage of four straight UC Merced errors to take a 12-9 lead, and kills by Nelson and Forgach Aguilar stretched the difference to 14-10.
The Bobcats rebounded to tie the set 15-15, but Nelson put the Warriors back in front with a block and two aces and force a UC Merced timeout at 18-15. Errors by the Bobcats and a service ace by Ung Enriquez helped LC fight off three set points, but UC Merced finished off the frame at 25-23.
LC State fell behind 3-1 early in the second set, but kills by Ung Enriquez and
Hallie Seaman evened things up. Back-to-back service aces by Dean extended the four-point run and put the Warriors in front 5-3. Seaman and Nelson tallied kills for LC to help push the lead to 9-5 before Seaman added her third kill and an ace to make it 11-6.
Wyms contributed a pair of kills on consecutive plays to make it a four-point rally for the Warriors, and a run of eight pushed the LC advantage to 21-8. Nelson and Langi each had kills in the stretch and Carpenter dealt two aces. A kill by Langi preceded three straight Merced errors to end the set 25-9 and tie the match 1-1.
Langi evened the third set 3-3 with a kill on an assist from Carpenter, but UC Merced gained the momentum to take an 8-5 lead. Nelson notched two straight kills before an ace by Seaman tied the score 9-9, and back-to-back scoring swings by Nelson and Langi kept it even at 11-11.
Back-to-back kills by Forgach Aguilar and Seaman kept the score close at 17-15 and the Bobcats leading, but an 11-4 run secured the third-set victory for UC Merced.
Aces by Nelson and Dean helped the Warriors rebound and take a 4-1 lead in the fourth frame. Hart made it a four-point lead with a kill at 7-3, but Merced rallied to tie things up 7-7. A back-and-forth battle ensued with the teams trading points until a kill by Forgach Aguilar and UC Merced error put LC up by two at 23-21.
Hart and Forgach Aguilar denied the Bobcats at the net after a timeout, and Nelson forced a deciding fifth set with a kill to end the set by a score of 25-22.
Kills by Wyms and Langi propelled LC State to an early 3-0 edge in the fifth frame. Two more kills from Langi and an ace by Nelson kept the margin at three, 6-3, but UC Merced picked up speed to take a 9-7 lead.
Blocks by Hart and Forgach Aguilar, paired with a kill by Hart, put the Warriors back in front 10-9. Merced responded with four points to regain the lead before taking the set 15-12.
Langi led the offense with 16 kills with a .394 attack percentage, and Nelson added 11 kills with five aces. Dean collected 18 digs and three aces, and Hart provided three blocks. Carpenter led LC with 26 assists and Kailiponi dished out 20.
UP NEXT
LC State heads back to Lewiston with a 4-1 record and will open Cascade Conference play on Aug. 26 at Walla Walla (Wash.). The Warriors hit the road the following weekend to take on Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon before hosting Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho the weekend of Sept. 9 in the home opener.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
