SURPRISE, Ariz. – The Warriors opened the OUAZ Invitational in exciting fashion on Thursday with a five-set victory over host Ottawa (Ariz.). The Spirit are receiving votes in the national poll but could not contain the LC State comeback.
LC fell behind 2-1 after winning the opening set. The Warriors trailed late in both the fourth and fifth sets but fought back to earn their second victory of the year with set scores of 25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 26-24, 16-14.
Sophomore
Juliauna Forgach Aguilar notched another career-high with 24 kills, twice as many as the second-highest total in the match. She notched her first double-double with 14 digs, and setter
Abbey Neff did the same with 27 assists and 13 digs.
"I'm so proud of the way we battled tonight and coming back from being down 14-11 to win the fifth set," Head Coach Katie Palmer said. "It's important for us to experience adversity and see how we respond. The arena was loud and OUAZ is a fantastic team. They have multiple players that could attack from anywhere and it tested our defense. Natany (Felix Guimaraes) had some big-time digs that pushed us through the finish line. We'll address some areas on film in the morning to come back playing a little cleaner tomorrow."
A pair of kills by
Kierstyn York kept the score close early in the first set. Forgach Aguilar got in on the action to keep LC within one before an OUAZ error and block by
Karissa Lindner and
Sofie Langer put the Warriors in front 6-5. The Spirit surged to pull ahead 15-9, but kills by York and Forgach Aguilar cut the deficit to three at 15-12.
Forgach Aguilar notched two kills and an ace by
Makenzie Stout made it a one-point game, and a big block by Forgach Aguilar and Lindner evened the set 16-16. The strength at the net continued with another denial by Lindner and Langer to keep the score within a point ahead of a set-tying kill by
Gianna Anderson at 19-19.
A service error by OUAZ and kill by
Hallie Seaman put the lead back with LC. Back-to-back aces by
Katie Rainville pushed the advantage to 23-20 before the Spirit gained momentum to even things up 23-23. Forgach Aguilar and Seaman dealt back-to-back kills to fend off the OUAZ comeback for a first-set victory.
A kill by York and ace by
Natany Felix Guimaraes pushed LC to a 2-0 advantage in the second frame. A service ace by
Kenzie Dean and kill by Forgach Aguilar made it a 5-2 lead before OUAZ rallied to pull ahead 15-11. York tallied a pair of big swings to go with one by Forgach Aguilar to pull the Warriors back within one at 15-14. Spirit errors helped keep LC in the set, but OUAZ regained its footing for a 25-22 win to even the match.
Anna Merrill notched the first LC kill of the third set and Anderson added one to cut an early deficit to 5-3. Forgach Aguilar and Seaman teamed up at the net for a block to make it an 8-7 score, but Ottawa pushed forward 17-11. Anderson tallied a kill out of an LC timeout and Felix Guimaraes dealt an ace, but OUAZ picked up speed with a 21-13 lead.
Lindner and York chipped away at the margin with kills on assists from
Esther Kailiponi, and a 7-2 run with three kills by Forgach Aguilar cut the difference to two at 22-20. An ace by Neff and kill by Forgach Aguilar kept the score close, but OUAZ edged LC State 25-23.
An OUAZ attack error and kills by Merrill and Seaman got things going for the Warriors in the fourth set. A block by York and Lindner gave LC a 6-3 lead and a swing by Lindner kept the difference at three, 8-5. Errors by the Spirit stretched the LC advantage to 10-5 to force a timeout.
Three straight OUAZ points cut the LC lead to two as kills by Forgach Aguilar, Merrill and Anderson held the slim Warrior advantage. A block by Seaman and Anderson stretched the LC run to three straight points and pushed the score to 15-9, and a pair of big swings by Anderson made it 17-12.
Anderson and York went back-to-back with kills to maintain a slim 19-15 lead, and Forgach Aguilar added one at 20-16. A run by Ottawa threatened the Warriors late, but a kill by Forgach Aguilar and an OUAZ error kept LC State in front by three, 22-19. The Spirit sent the set into extra points after tying things up 24-24, but back-to-back kills by Anderson ended things 26-24 to tie the match 2-2.
A kill by Forgach Aguilar and OUAZ missteps had the score at 3-3 early in the deciding set. The Spirit pulled ahead 14-11, then the LC comeback kicked into full gear. LC fought off three match points with a kill by Forgach Aguilar, block by Seaman and OUAZ error to lead 15-14, and an ace by Neff sealed the deal.
Forgach Aguilar was unstoppable with 24 kills on a .213 attack percentage. Anderson also tallied a career-best with 12 kills, as did York with her nine. Seaman, Merrill and Lindner each added five. Neff dealt a match-best 27 assists and Kailiponi dished out 18.
Dean anchored the back row with 20 digs, Felix Guimaraes collected 17, Forgach Aguilar completed a double-double with 14 digs, Neff did the same with 13 and Stout had 12. Lindner led LC at the net with four block assists.
The OUAZ Invitational continues on Friday with two matches for LC State. The Warriors face Montana Western at 11:30 a.m. before taking on Arizona Christian at 4:30 p.m.
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