SALEM, Ore. – Molly Grace recorded 19 kills, 12 digs and five blocks to lead Oregon Tech, but an upset bid by the Lady Owls came up just short in a 25-23, 25-21, 26-28, 27-25 loss to No. 9-ranked Corban University inside the C.E. Jeffers Center.
 
The Warriors (18-4, 14-3 CCC) used a 68-48 edge in total kills to make up for 11 service errors and 11 OIT blocks to complete the season sweep.
 
Tech (14-11, 7-10) made things tough for the nationally-ranked foe, rallying to tie the score in Set 1 at 23-23, before kills from Allyson Reid and Emma Bischoff gave the hosts the set win. The Owls battled from a 19-11 deficit in Set 2, getting three combo-blocks in a 10-4 run to get within 23-21 – before consecutive Corban kills thwarted the rally.
 
The Lady Owls won Set 3, taking a 21-18 lead on a Grace kill – before the Warriors fought off four set points to even the score at 26-26. A Corban serving error gave OIT their fifth set point, with an attack error sending the match to a fourth set.
 
Corban jumped ahead 18-13 in Set 4, but Grace responded with 3-straight kills in an 11-4 run that gave OIT set point. However, the nationally-ranked side got two kills from Kendra Bittle to tie the score and following two side outs, Corban posted consecutive kills to end the match.
 
Tiana Barrett had eight kills and four blocks, with Courtney Green adding eight kills in the loss for OIT. Aleksen Thayer led all players with seven blocks, Lucy Boyd recorded 39 assists and 19 digs, with Kaley Whalen leading the Owls with 22 digs and three aces.
 
Bischoff led Corban with 19 kills and 13 digs, Bittle recorded 16 kills, with libero Marissa Uehara finishing with 31 digs.
 
Tech ends the Valley road swing tomorrow with a 5 p.m. match at Bushnell.