LEWISTON – A strong performance across the board propelled the Lewis-Clark State Volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-11, 25-23) of the Evergreen State Geoducks on Saturday. The Warriors hit .263 as a team to bounce back from a five-set loss to Northwest on Friday.
“Today, instead of letting the other team take control of the game, we took control,” senior libero Kenzie Dean said. “We made them come play our game.”
Missy Mortensen led the team in attack percentage with six kills on 14 swings and one error (.357). Freshman Gianna Anderson tallied nine kills on 23 attempts with two errors (.304). The victory improves the LC State record in Cascade Conference play to 2-1.
“That was a good win for our squad today. We had to dig deep in the tank to play at our speed and our consistency,” Head Coach Katie Palmer said. “Proud of the way Kenzie Dean is covering the floor and leading in the serve receive line. Proud of Missy Mortensen and how she played offensively. The more we can get our middles the ball, the better. We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend and we’ll be getting in the gym on Monday to continue our sole focus on improvement.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Evergreen State opened the match with a 7-6 lead, then the Warriors took over and never looked back. Kills by Juliauna Forgach Aguilar and Karissa Lindner put LC in front 9-7, and a six-point run made it 14-8 in favor of LC State. Back-to-back kills by Abbey Neff and Anna Merrill pushed the margin to 19-13 before a kill by Forgach Aguilar and block by Lindner ended the first set 25-18.
The Warriors dialed in even more in the second frame. Kills by Forgach Aguilar, Lindner and Mortensen, and a block by Anderson, had LC up 5-4 before a massive 10-point rally. A kill by Kierstyn York got the run started, and two aces by Anderson, three kills by Forgach Aguilar, one by Mortensen and another by York gave the Warriors a 15-5 advantage.
Back-to-back swings by York and Lindnder, followed by an ace by Sofie Langer, grew the cushion to 19-7. Forgach Aguilar and Abby Meyer added tallies before three straight kills by Anderson sealed the set at 25-11.
The momentum carried over to set three with a 6-3 Warrior lead. A block by Lindner and Anderson put the first LC point on the board before Merrill put the Warriors in front. Evergreen responded and kept the set close throughout and held a slight lead until 17-15. Three consecutive kills by Forgach Aguilar swung the momentum back to LC State, and an ace by Neff made it 19-17 in favor of the Warriors.
The Geoducks evened the set before jumping ahead 23-22. LC State rattled off three straight points and a kill by York won the set, 25-23.
Forgach Aguilar led the match with 13 kills on a .250 attack percentage. Anderson tallied nine (.304) and Mortensen added six (.357). Langer led the contest with 14 assists and Esther Kailiponi dealt 12. Lindner led the way at the net with five blocks (three assists and two solos).
Dean continued her climb up the all-time digs list in the LC State record books. After Saturday, she is one shy of tying for sixth (1,399).
“It’s funny because everyone talks about how I am getting closer, but I don’t focus on that,” Dean added. “I focus on where my feet are. It is my last year so I am trying to take in every moment and give my all each game.”
Sophia Scroggins led TESC with seven kills and Andee Nelson had 10 digs. Kaiyah Brown put up five blocks.
UP NEXT
The Warriors hit the road next weekend for the longest road trip in conference play. LC will take on Oregon Tech on Friday before facing No. 19 Southern Oregon on Saturday.
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