EUGENE, Ore. – A career night from freshman
Ka'ala Masaoka wasn't enough for the Lady Owls, as Oregon Tech dropped a tough 25-18, 26-24, 19-25, 25-19 decision to Bushnell University at the Morse Event Center.
Masaoka led Tech (8-8, 2-6 CCC) with 13 kills, one of five players with 7-or-more kills on the day, but the host Beacons were able to make plays late in sets to survive the upset bid.
The Owls had a 15-14 lead in Set 1 following a
Sumerlyn Spencer ace, but Taya Blankenship answered with three of her five aces on the day, part of an 11-3 run to end the set for the Beacons (11-4, 6-2).
OIT battled back from a 17-10 deficit in Set 2, getting two kills from both Masaoka and
Aleksen Thayer in a 10-3 run to tie the score at 20-20, with the Owls earning set-point at 24-22 on a
Shalyn Bliss kill. Blankenship countered with a kill, starting a 4-point push for the hosts to steal the set win.
Set 3 was all Lady Owls, as Tech never trailed in the period – thanks to six kills from Masaoka. The visitors were within 15-13 in Set 4, but Bushnell turned to Amyah Semau, who recorded four kills in a late run to end the match.
Tiffini Goss had 10 kills, with Bliss, Thayer and
Steffini Goss each finishing with seven kills.
Taryn Ramsay had 37 assists,
Kaley Whalen ended a big weekend with 24 digs and
Emma Kness posted 15 assists.
Blankenship had 16 kills for the Beacons, with Semau adding 15 kills and 15 digs.
The Owls return home next weekend for Friday-Saturday matches against Evergreen State and Northwest – both set for 7 p.m.
