LEWISTON – The Lewis-Clark State Volleyball team pushed No. 3 Eastern Oregon to a fourth set before dropping the penultimate regular-season match at the P1FCU Activity Center.
The Warriors lost 25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 25-12 to drop to 10-16 on the season and 9-12 in Cascade Conference play. Eastern Oregon improved to 27-1 and 20-1 in conference action.
“Eastern Oregon is a great team who we knew was going to put pressure on us from the very beginning,” coach Katie Palmer said. “I thought the work we’ve been putting in on our defense showed tonight.”
Juliana Forgach Aguilar led LC State with 14 kills. Freshman Gianna Anderson added nine kills while senior Hallie Seaman tied a season-best with seven. Esther Kailiponi had 20 assists and Natany Felix Guimaraes collected 19 digs.
“Natany and Kenzie (Dean) combined for 31 digs which is outstanding,” Palmer said. “When our block gets cleaner, we’ll see more production out of that unit too, which will help us in these hard-fought battles with top teams in the country.”
Forgach Aguilar had back-to-back kills early in the first set to give the Warriors an early 5-4 lead. The two teams traded points before Eastern Oregon scored four straight to move ahead 13-10 and take command of the opening set.
The second set saw the Mountaineers jump out to a 5-1 advantage that increased to 12-7 before LC State mounted a comeback. Anna Merrill earned a kill to start a 9-2 run for the home team. After an attack error on EOU’s Sade Williams, Kailiponi recorded an ace to give LC State its first lead in the second set at 16-15. The Warriors did not relinquish the lead in the second set victory.
“I’m proud of the resilience we showed in set two coming back from behind and winning,” Palmer said. “We’re still improving and that’s what we’re all about.”
Again, Eastern Oregon jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set and made LC State battle from behind. A 9-4 run for the Warriors that culminated in a Forgach Aguilar kill cut the difference to 21-20 and forced the Mountaineers to call a timeout. Eastern Oregon was able to win four of the final six points to take the third set.
The Mountaineers controlled the fourth set with two separate five-point streaks to take leads of 7-2 and 15-6.
Keira Vaughn led the way for Eastern Oregon with 19 kills. Hannah Ledgerwood had 23 assists and Hailey Arritola had 16 digs for the Mountaineers.
“Tomorrow we’re looking forward to honoring three seniors who are incredible examples of what it means to be a Warrior on and off the court,” Palmer said.
The Warriors will celebrate their three seniors: Kierstyn York, Ashlee Bachman and Kenzie Dean before the final regular-season contest of the year. LC State will host College of Idaho at 5 p.m. on Saturday at the P1FCU Activity Center.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.