LA GRANDE, Ore. — The Cascade Collegiate Conference Volleyball Tournament got underway Friday afternoon inside Quinn Coliseum with the first matchup of the day, No. 2-seeded Corban took down No. 3-seeded Oregon Tech in straight sets (25-12, 26-24, 25-15).
 
"Congratulations to Corban on a well-played match," said OIT head coach Ken Murczek. "They put our serve receivers and our attackers in tough position. We unfortunately never got into a rhythm this evening and were not able to slow down their offense. I am proud of the progress we made this year and excited to start next season in the conversation as a top 25 team."
 
The Warriors (11-4) secured the win with the combined help of stout offense and defense. They hit .351 for the match and held the Owls (12-6) to .049 for the afternoon. Corban also had the edge in total blocks, 6-3, and posted 43 kills while limiting OIT to 27.
 
In the opening set, Corban and Oregon Tech kept things fairly close with the Warriors holding a slim 4-3 lead. The Warriors then scored four straight to jump ahead 8-4. OIT looked to keep the score within reach but the Warriors had an answer on offense to stay in front. The Owls' go-to option early on was Nicole Reyes who had two kills in that span.
 
The Owls tried to battle back after calling a timeout when they trailed 12-6, but a 7-0 run by Corban during that span gave the Warriors the 15-6 lead before OIT was able to score again. OIT had no answer as they were outscored 10-6 the rest of the way and fell 25-12 in the opening set.
 
Set No. 2 was the closest of the night for the Oregon Tech who forced extra points against the Warriors before falling 26-24.
 
Corban took a 6-2 early lead in the set, but the Owls managed to keep the score within 3-4 points for much of the early half of the second set.
 
Tech only trailed by three, 9-6, to Corban but an 8-2 scoring surge by the Warrior had the Owls in a 17-9 hole once again. Despite the eight-point lead for Corban, the Owls slowly chipped away at it to get back into the contest.
 
The Warriors were able to hold the eight-point edge at 18-10 after getting up 17-9, but OIT rallied and scored four-straight to cut the Warriors' lead to four, 18-14 and forced a timeout. The Owls tied the match at 22-all to make things interesting late. Leading the way for OIT in the near comeback was Faith Houck-Wylie who had six kills in the set. On the flip side, Ally Tow posted seven kills in the set to help Corban escape with the 26-24 win.
 
The third and final set once again belonged to Corban who held OIT to under 20 points for the second time in the match. The Warriors raced out to a 7-0 lead before OIT got on the board and never looked back.
 
The Owls managed to cut the Warriors' lead to four a few times in the early going but each time Corban had a response to stay in front. The last time the Owls got within four was at the midway point when it was 15-11.
 
Corban called a timeout when it was 15-10 and out of the short break OIT made it a 15-11 game before the Warriors went on a 7-1 run to go ahead 22-12. The Owls managed just three more points the rest of the way before ultimately falling 25-15 and bowing out of the CCC Tournament in straight sets.
 
Faith Houck-Wylie led the Hustlin' Owls on offense with 11 kills and hit .200 in the match. She also had seven digs and three service aces. Nicole Reyes chipped in seven kills and led the defense in digs with a match-high of seven.
 
Ashley Ripplinger led the front row defensively with two blocks and had four kills in the loss.
 
Cassidy Brooke dished out a team best 13 assists, while Courtney Isom had eight. Brooke also had a match-high four service aces.
 
The Owls' season ends at 12-6 and the 9-5 conference mark was the best since 2008.
 
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