KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Oregon Tech battled back from a two-set deficit to force a winner-take-all finale, but Lewis-Clark State outlasted the Lady Owls in a 150-minute marathon to open Cascade Conference volleyball play inside Danny Miles Court.
The Warriors (7-1, 2-0 CCC) claimed the 30-28, 25-20, 22-25, 20-25, 15-12 win – rallying from a 7-3 deficit in the final set.
"It's never easy being down two sets and the easy thing to do is cash in your chips," said OIT head coach
Ken Murczek. "I am proud that we played at a higher level in the third and fourth sets and felt that we had some good momentum going into the fifth. Leading 8-5 at the switch, I thought we were in a good spot, but unfortunately made a couple costly errors and opened the door and came out on the wrong side of it."
Three consecutive kills from
Kaylin Talonen gave the Lady Owls (3-4, 0-1) the 7-3 lead in Set 5 and had a 3-point edge at the change-over. LC countered in a big way, scoring eight of the next 10 points, including two key blocks at the net and a service ace, to take control and claim the win.
Set 1 featured 18 ties – with Tech having three set points and LC having two, before an OIT hitting error gave the visitors the early win. The Warriors bolted to an 8-1 lead in Set 2, only to see
Paige Tevelde record back-to-back aces, drawing the Owls even at 11-11. OIT trailed 19-18 late, but a service error and two LCSC aces keyed a 6-2 run to end the period.
OIT powered their way through Set 3 and Set 4 – taking a 13-6 lead in the third frame behind three kills from
Savanna Sterck. The visitors closed within 23-21, but a Sterck kill, followed by a
Molly Grace spike ended the set. OIT rolled in Set 4, turning a 6-1 start into a 13-7 lead – as
Ashley Ripplinger combined on three consecutive combo-blocks.
Talonen led OIT with 18 kills, while Grace had a career-high 15 kills. Sterck added 11 kills and five blocks, Ripplinger had a team-best seven blocks,
Courtney Isom recorded 32 assists and four blocks, with
Aubrey Kievit logging a match-high 26 digs.
Grecia Ung Enriquez and Lisi Langi each had 16 kills to lead LC, with Channa Hart leading all players with eight blocks.
Tech returns to the court tomorrow night, hosting Walla Walla University at 9 p.m.
