LEWISTON – Warrior Volleyball put together one of its best all-around matches of the season on Friday in a 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-20) sweep of Warner Pacific University. LC State utilized 11 service aces and a .230 attack percentage to earn its second straight victory.
“We talk about the serve and pass game every day in our practices and we were able to showcase the work we put in today with 11 team aces,” Head Coach Katie Palmer said. “Really proud of our focus and the execution by all of our servers.”
The offense was dialed in throughout the lineup, led by outside hitters Juliauna Forgach Aguilar and Gianna Anderson. Forgach Aguilar led the match with 14 kills, one shy of WPU’s team total of 15, with a .346 attack percentage. Anderson tallied 11. Right sides Hallie Seaman (five kills) and Anna Merrill (six kills) also stepped up big with efficient nights.
“I thought our offense on the right side really showed up today with Hallie hitting .400 and Anna hitting .385,” Palmer added. “Their continued development will allow our offense to become more diverse and that is a positive thing.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Warner Pacific struck first, but the Warriors took over with a 7-0 run in the first set. Forgach Aguilar tallied a kill to get the momentum going, Anderson added two and Makenzie Stout notched three aces in the run. Kills by Anderson and Seaman and a block by Anderson and Katie Rainville had the lead at 13-3, and a kill by Esther Kailiponi sparked a run of five that made it 19-5. Senior Ashlee Bachman dealt an ace during her service run and Missy Mortensen capped the stretch with a kill.
A pair of swings by Forgach Aguilar moved the set along to 21-8. Kierstyn York and Anderson added to the total and an ace by Kailiponi fed into the 25-11 set win.
The Knights bounced back in the second frame and snuck out to a 13-12 advantage. Back-to-back kills by Anderson and Merrill put the Warriors back in front and an ace by Kenzie Dean made it 15-13. Freshman Karissa Lindner tallied a kill and a block before an ace by Natany Felix Guimaraes and kill by Forgach Aguilar had the margin at 23-15. Back-to-back kills by Forgach Aguilar ended the set 25-18.
The third frame was back-and-forth until a block by Rainville and Seaman sparked a rally with kills by Merrill and Rainville to make it a 12-7 LC lead. Forgach Aguilar and Rainville each added two kills in a 5-1 scoring stretch to push the advantage to 21-14, and a kill by Anderson capped the match at 25-20.
Forgach Aguilar led the match with 14 kills and Anderson added 11. Kailiponi dished out 18 assists and Abbey Neff tallied 13. Dean led the defense with 17 digs to push her over the 1,500 mark for her career at 1,506. Felix Guimaraes collected 11 digs and Stout led the team with four service aces.
Elizabeth Reid led the Knights with six kills and Rose Vazquez collected 11 digs.
UP NEXT
LC State Volleyball closes out the weekend on Saturday with a contest against Multnomah. First serve is set for 5 p.m. in the P1FCU Activity Center.
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