FULLERTON, Calif. –
Kaliko Schilling combined for 28 kills and 24 digs on the day, as Oregon Tech opened play at the HIU SummerSlam with victories over La Sierra and Simpson inside Darling Pavilion.
The Lady Owls (3-2) staved off a match point against LSU, before rallying for a reverse sweep, stopping the Golden Eagles (1-2) 23-25, 23-25, 28-26, 25-21, 15-9, while in the evening, outlasted the Redhawks (2-6) 27-25, 22-25, 25-12, 27-25.
MATCH 1 vs. La Sierra – The first-ever meeting between the two teams saw 37 ties and 22 lead changes over the first three sets. OIT had a 23-22 lead in each of the first two sets, but LSU got consecutive kills from Noelle Bergedahl to win Set 1 and Julissa Rodriguez had a kill and block to steal Set 2.
The Riverside squad was one point away from a win, leading 24-23 in Set 3, but
Alexa Gugliotta recorded back-to-back kills and a Schilling-
Aleksen Thayer block extended the match. OIT trailed 14-12 in Set 4, but got two aces from
Kaley Whalen in an 8-point run to even the match.
Tech never trailed in Set 5, combining for three blocks in the deciding frame.
Tiffini Goss led the Owls with 14 kills and five blocks, Schilling had 11 kills, 14 digs and five blocks, Gugliotta had 10 kills and seven blocks, while Thayer had eight kills and a match-high 11 blocks.
Taryn Ramsay, running a 5-1 attack, recorded career-highs with 46 assists and 12 digs, while Whalen led all players with 24 digs.
LSU had a 65-52 edge in kills, but the Owls blocking was the different – finishing with 18 total blocks.
MATCH 2 vs. Simpson – Tech extended a long win streak against the Redhawks, as Schilling finished with 17 kills, 10 digs and five aces, with Ramsay recording 44 assists and 10 digs.
The Owls trailed 20-15 in Set 1 after Mariah Napoleon powered three kills in a SU flurry. The Redhawks had set point at 25-24, but kills from
Steffini Goss and Gugliotta, plus an attack error, handed OIT the win.
SU opened Set 2 on an 8-0 run, getting five aces from Brooke Sarahina, but the Owls roared back behind four Schilling kills, tying the score at 18-18. The two sides were tied at 21-21, before two key kills from Louise Oliveira gave the Redhawks the advantage they needed to even the match.
Tech dominated Set 3, jumping to a 14-5 lead and were never headed.
The Redhawks had three set points in Set 4 (24-22, 24-23, 25-24), but a key serving error was followed by a Schilling ace and a
Steffini Goss kill to end the match.
Steffini Goss recorded a career-high 15 kills and Thayer backed up her earlier match with eight additional blocks, with Whalen leading all players with 19 digs.
Tech had a 55-47 edge in kills and a 12-4 edge in blocks.
OIT closes out tournament play tomorrow, meeting host Hope International and Life Pacific.
