LEWISTON, Idaho – Oregon Tech upset No 13 Corban University Saturday morning earning a 3-2 win (22-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-21, and 15-13). This was their first win against the Warriors since 2015. Corban bounced back in the second match of Saturday's doubleheader against the Owls with a 3-0 victory (25-17, 25-8, 25-13).
"We took advantage of playing a nationally ranked top 20 program and raised our level of play today in the first match," said head coach Ken Murczek. "The team made some big plays when needed and I couldn't be happier for them. It was great to see us learn from yesterday's 5 set match and execute today at 14-13 with a first ball kill by
Nicole Reyes. Unfortunately, our serve receive and offense broke down in the second match. I am proud of our group and the steps we are taking each time we compete, but we still have areas that need to be addressed before we get to put the jerseys on again versus Bushnell."
Match one: Oregon Tech 3 Corban 2
Nicole Reyes had a team-high 15 kills in the triumph, marking the first time that Corban has lost in the 2021 spring campaign.
Down by three in the second, 10-7, the Owls rolled 5 straight points to take a 12-10 lead. Tech built a 24-20 lead but CRB won the next two points to cut the lead to 24-22. Tech came out of a timeout and scored the game winner.
In the third, Corban cruised to a 25-13 win.
Not rattled, the Lady Owls took game 4, 25-21 to force the thrilling final run to 15.
Tech took a 7-4 early lead on an
Ireland Bennett kill and a service ace by Reyes. The final set was tied at 9, 11, and 12 before Tech won three of the final four points capped off by a Reyes' kill.
After Reyes,
Faith Houck-Wylie added 12 kills while
Brooke Cassidy (33 assists) and
Lindsey Beck (18 assists) teamed up to fuel the offense.
Aubrey Kievit had a game high 18 digs with Reyes and
Lindsey Sampson chipping in 11 digs each. .
Match two: Corban 3 Oregon Tech 0
Corban bounced back in the second match between the two teams and grabbed a three-set victory (25-17, 25-8, 25-13). The Warriors were fired up on offense and finished with a .396 hitting percentage, including an impressive .607 clip in the second set. Defensively, Corban held Oregon Tech to a .032 hitting percentage in the match.
Talonen led the Owls with eight kills, with Cassidy and
Lindsey Beck each posting seven assists. Kievit led with nine digs defensively.
Tech will stay idle until March 19 and 20
th when they host Bushnell University (4-3).
