(Story courtesy Concordia Sports Information)
PORTLAND, Ore.—The Concordia volleyball team swept Evergreen State 3-0 (25-5, 25-11, 25-9) in convincing fashion on Friday.
Concordia (13-8, 8-6 CCC) controlled the match from the beginning, running off to an 8-0 lead. From there, Concordia never let up, capping the set with another seven-point run for the 25-5 set victory.
Not surprisingly, Concordia dominated the set statistically as well, hitting .647 as a team with 12 kills and only one error.
However, Evergreen State (0-14, 0-13 CCC) responded with its strongest set in the second as the Geoducks played with Concordia in the beginning, tying the match at 3-3. However, Concordia went on another six-point burst to give them control of the set, which they would not relinquish.
Still, Evergreen State recorded six kills in the second, their highest total of the night.
Finally, two more big Concordia runs of seven and nine points in the third continued the night’s ongoing theme and the Cavs walked away with their ninth sweep of the season.
Overall, Concordia hit .449 for the match, a season-best by nearly 100 percentage points. The Cavs also totaled 36 kills off only five errors. In addition, Concordia recorded eight total team blocks and ten service aces, the latter of which also tied a season-best. Meanwhile, Evergreen State hit -.186 with 10 kills.
A number of Cavs also recorded season-bests led by freshman Jessica Smith (Portland, Ore./Lincoln H.S.) who set career-highs in kills (4) and hitting percentage (.571). Senior Skyler Kamaka (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Kamehameha Schools) also set a new best in hitting percentage at .727, while fellow seniors Clair Thiel (Oak Harbor, Wash./Oak Harbor H.S.) and Cassandra Koering (Woodland, Wash./Woodland H.S.) recorded new highs in block assists (7) and service aces (4), respectively. In addition, setter Lindsay Mangan (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina H.S.) totaled 26 assists off only 51 total attempts and 69 team attacks.
For Evergreen State, seniors Stephanie Peshlakai-John and Jasmine Horton led the Geoducks with four kills each, while Horton also finished second on the team in digs with eight. Defensively, Taylor Good topped Horton by one to lead the Geoducks with nine digs and freshman Chelsea Harris finished top on the team in block assists with two.
Both teams return to action tomorrow when Evergreen State travels to face Warner Pacific, while Concordia plays a pivotal home match against Northwest. Concordia likely has to beat Northwest to keep their hopes of making it to the CCC tournament alive. Northwest currently stands one game ahead of the Cavs in the CCC standings and holds the tiebreaker between the teams as Northwest beat the Concordia 3-1 when the they played in Kirkland, Wash. A win on Saturday for Concordia would both even the head-to-head and draw the teams even in the conference standings. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.
