OLYMPIA, Wash.  – Throwing down 46 kills, including 18 from junior Victoria Love (Seaside, Calif./Seaside HS/Hartnell College), the Evergreen Geoducks broke a 39-match conference losing streak with a  3-1 win over the visiting Warner Pacific Knights in a Cascade Conference volleyball match on Saturday night at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.

After posting a bit of the slow start, the Geoducks (2-4, 1-1 CCC) found themselves in a hole early as the Knights (2-8, 0-2 CCC) held a 10-4 lead.  Evergreen dug deep and fought back, tying the match at 20-20 and a kill by Love a few points later gave the Geoducks the 25-23 set one win.

Evergreen never struggled in the second set as an early lead was enough to propel the Geoducks to an easy 25-13 set two win.  The green and white recorded 11 kills with just four errors on 29 total attacks to take the 2-0 lead heading into the break.

Warner Pacific wasn’t ready to get back on the bus quite yet as set three was all Knights.  Collecting the first six points of the frame, WPC never trailed as Warner collected a 25-12 win thanks to 12 kills and just three errors on 27 total swings for a hitting percentage of .333.

The fourth set was tight early as Warner Pacific took an early lead but Evergreen kept it close.  Down 11-10, the Geoducks came alive, using an 11-3 run to pull ahead by seven and the Knights couldn’t close the gap as Evergreen collected the 25-18.

With the win, the Geoducks break a 39-match CCC losing streak, dating back to a 3-1 win over Warner Pacific on Oct. 30, 2010.

Evergreen was led by the 18 kills from Love, who had just five errors on 38 total attacks for a .342 clip.  Natimia Barker-Doss (Tacoma, Wash./Wilson HS/Pierce College) put up 38 assists while Liza Domingo (Ka’a’wa, Hawai’i/Kahuku HS/Lower Columbia College) dug out 26 balls on the night.

Warner Pacific was led by 13 kills from Julia Toscano.  Marchelle Bostic finished with 32 assists while Brandy Velasquez collected 19 digs for the Knights.  WPC hit .094 on the night, recording 37 kills with 24 errors on 139 attacks.

Evergreen hits the road for the next two weeks, beginning on Friday night at College of Idaho.  Match time with the Yotes is set for 7 p.m. MDT in Caldwell, Idaho.

Box Score

OLYMPIA, Wash.  – Making their home and conference debut, the Evergreen Geoducks hoped for a win but it was the visiting Concordia Cavaliers who claimed victory, winning in straight sets in a Cascade Conference volleyball match on Friday night at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.

After opening the match fairly evenly, the Cavaliers (6-2, 1-0 CCC) used a 7-2 run to pull ahead.  The Geoducks (1-4, 0-1 CCC) fought back, pulling within one point at 19-18 but a 6-1 run gave the Cavaliers the set one victory, 25-19.  CU hit .250 in the first set, compared with .159 for the Geoducks.

Concordia came out strong in the second set to take the early lead and the Geoducks just couldn’t find a way back in it. The Cavs built a double-digit lead at 19-9 and it proved too much for Evergreen as CU earned the second set win easily, 25-13.

The third set was tight most of the way as neither team built much of the lead.  Concordia eventually began chipping away and then turned on the jets, using a 11-3 run to clinch the match with a 25-16 set three victory.  CU hit .667 in the final frame, putting down 15 kills on 21 attacks with just one error.

Evergreen was led by 10 kills from Victoria Love (Seaside, Calif./Seaside HS/Hartnell College).  Natimia Barker-Doss (Tacoma, Wash./Wilson HS/Pierce College) added 24 assists while Liza Domingo (Ka’a’wa, Hawai’i/Kahuku HS/Lower Columbia College) had a team-high 16 digs.

Concordia was led by 13 kills on 24 attacks with just two errors from Jackie Stein.  Brianna Hogan added 11 kills while Lindsay Mangan recorded 25 assists before making way for Jenessa Taylor as primary setter in the third set.  Shantel Gritsch collected 18 digs for the Cavs.

Evergreen returns to the court on Saturday night when they play host to Warner Pacific.  Match time with the Knights is set for 7 p.m. at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.

Box Score

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

SPOKANE, Wash.  – Three tight sets all went the way of Montana State-Northern as the Evergreen Geoducks fell to the MSUN Lights, 3-0, on Friday night at the Red Lion Cascade/Frontier Challenge in Spokane, Wash.

In the first set, the Geoducks kept pace with the Lights but MSUN went on a run midway through the set.  Evergreen battled back to tie the frame at 20-20 but a 5-1 run gave the Lights the set one win, 25-21.

In the second set, it was a similar start as the teams played close early before the Lights pulled ahead.  Unlike the first set, the Geoducks couldn’t find a way back into it as MSUN pulled ahead by two with the 25-18 set two victory.

The Geoducks kept things close again in the third , tying the match up at 17-17 but an 8-3 run clinched the match for Northern as the Geoducks couldn’t get the win.

Evergreen was led by nine kills from junior Molly King (Centralia, Wash./Centralia HS/Tacoma CC).  Natimia Barker-Doss (Tacoma, Wash./Wilson HS/Pierce College) had 24 assist while Liza Domingo (Ka’a’awa, Hawai’i/Kahuka HS/Lower Columbia College) finished with 15 digs.  The Geoducks held a slight lead in blocks at 7 to 6.

MSU-Northern was led by 15 kills from Kelsey Williams and 12 from Abby Nicholas.  Joni Nagy put up 35 assists while Holly Cartwright led the Lights with 15 digs.

The Geoducks will look to leave Spokane with a win on Saturday when they face off against Montana Western, beginning at 2 p.m.

Box Score