SPOKANE, Wash.  – The Evergreen Geoducks did something they hadn’t done in 51 matches prior and that was walk away with a win as the green and white held off the Montana Western Bulldogs in four sets on Saturday afternoon at the Red Lion Cascade/Frontier Challenge in Spokane, Wash.

The Geoducks (1-3) came out on fire in the first set, building a 10-3 lead before the Bulldogs (3-3) even knew what hit them.  The lead stayed out of reach for UMW the rest of the way as Evergreen cruised to the 25-13 set one win.

In the second set, UMW came out battling and the Geoduck kept it tight most of the frame.  The Bulldogs pulled it together in the end, holding off Evergreen, 25-22, to tie the match at one set each.

Evergreen was determined in the third set but UMW didn’t back down as the team found themselves tied at 10-10 midway through.  A 10-5 run put the Geoducks up late and another 5-2 run secured the set three victory to give Evergreen the one-set lead.

Montana Western took the early lead in the fourth set, scoring the first six points of the frame but Evergreen dug deep to even the match at 15-15.  Never trailing the rest of the way, the Geoducks made the plays they needed to make as they earned the 25-22 set four win to clinch their first win since Oct. 30, 2010.

Evergreen was led by 15 kills each from Cassidy Watkins (Tucson, Ariz./Mountain View HS/Trevecca Nazarene Univ.) and Victoria Love (Seaside, CAlif./Seaside HS/Hartnell College).  Natimia Barker-Doss (Tacoma, Wash./Wilson HS/Pierce College) put up 41 assists for the Geoducks to go with 10 digs for the junior transfer.

Montana Western was led by 12 kills from Bailey Brandson.  Paige Latimer added 21 assists while Kendra Mendicino led all players with 19 digs.  The Bulldogs hit just .083 on the afternoon, compared with .203 for the Geoducks.

The Geoducks will next officially be back in action on Sep. 6 when they host Concordia in the Cascade Conference opener for both schools.  Match time is set for 7:00 p.m. at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.

Box Score