COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. – The Warrior women opened the 2022 Cascade Collegiate Conference season with a 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17) victory over a much-improved Walla Walla University squad. After taking the first set, LC State dropped a highly-contested second frame to the Wolves before bouncing back to finish off the match in four sets.
"Definitely not our best performance, but we will take every win we can get in the Cascade," Head Coach
Shaun Pohlman said. "Today was a good opportunity for our team to work on our specific needs while dealing with the pressure of a conference game."
Jennah Carpenter opened the match with a service ace to kickstart the LC momentum, and a three-point run sparked by a kill by
Jada Wyms gave LC a 5-4 lead.
Lisi Langi tallied a kill, followed by a block by
Hallie Seaman and
Grecia Ung Enriquez, to stretch the advantage to 9-5. Back-to-back kills by Ung Enriquez, followed by two in a row from Seaman, made it an 18-10 lead, and three straight swings by Seaman increased the margin to 22-11. Wyms ended the set 25-17 with a kill on an assist from
Esther Kailiponi.
The Warriors jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the second with kills by
Juliauna Forgach Aguilar, Ung Enriquez, Seaman and a block by Seaman and Carpenter. The advantage grew to 20-15 with back-to-back Ung Enriquez kills, but the Wolves rattled off seven straight points to take the set 25-23.
WWU kept the momentum going to take a 3-1 lead in the third frame. Two four-point runs by LC State put the Warriors back in command at 10-5, fueled by kills by Langi,
Channa Hart, Forgach Aguilar and two aces by Ung Enriquez. Walla Walla evened the set 14-14, but two kills by Ung Enriquez and one from Hart put LC back in front 18-14. Three consecutive kills by Ung Enriquez, Hart and Langi led the Warriors to a 25-19 set victory.
Ung Enriquez sparked a five-point stretch that had LC up 7-3 to open the fourth frame. A block by Forgach Aguilar and Seaman, followed by an ace by
Ashlee Bachman, made it 10-8, and a block by Seaman led to another five-point rally. Three kills by Ung Enriquez in the stretch gave LC a 21-14 lead, and back-to-back kills by
Katie Rainville and
Madison Kammuller ended the match.
Ung Enriquez led the match with 15 kills on a .353 attack percentage with three aces. Seaman notched a career-high with nine kills and a team-best five blocks including two solos. Carpenter pulled double duty dealing assists (19) and kills (3), and Kailiponi dished out 15 dimes.
Kenzie Dean led the defense with 19 digs and
Kendzee Cloward had 16.
The Warriors remain on the road for another weekend of CCC action. LC travels to No. 19 Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon for matches Sept. 2 and 3, respectively.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
