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Volleyball Nick Askew, Sports Information Director

Corban Takes Rivalry Match in Four Sets

EUGENE, Ore. – Corban College improved to 3-1 in Cascade Conference play and Northwest Christian fell to 0-4 as the Warriors took a four-set win over the Beacons on Saturday night, 25-20, 23-35, 25-16, 25-16.

The Warriors jumped ahead early in set one, taking a 7-3 lead. After a 4-1 groove by the Beacons brought them within one point, Corban squelched the rally, getting a kill from Rachel Gowen. Corban led the rest of the way and the Beacons never got closer than two points. Teri Braun kicked her night off in a strong way, going 4-for-4 on the attack.

Set two would prove to be the most closely contested piece of the action. The Beacons jumped ahead 6-2 early on, but the teams went on to trade the lead eight times, fighting through 11 tie points before NCU went ahead 19-18. Three straight Corban points gave them the lead and the Warriors were ahead 23-22 when Brooke Stribling and Cotie Howard rattled off three straight kills to end the set and even the match.

Corban bounced back quickly in set three, garnering a 5-1 lead that they would never relinquish. The Beacons came as close as two points at 14-12, but the Warriors pulled away behind three more kills and two solo blocks from Gowen. The fourth set played out much in the same way as the third and Corban closed the match on a 9-3 run, accented by a match-ending assisted block from Gowen and Megan Dees.

After the match head coach Mike Gaffaney was optimistic, despite the outcome. “We wanted to come out after last night's loss and play better, and we certainly did that. We also wanted to improve from set-to-set as the match went on tonight and for the most part we accomplished that.” Gaffaney added, “We are going to learn more from a loss than we are from a win, and we certainly have learned a lot about ourselves, and as coaches we are learning what we need to work on going forward.”

The Beacons (3-6) finished the match with a .089 kill percentage and were led in hitting by Stribling, pouring in a match-high 16 kills while hitting .161. Stribling also led the team, along with Mercedes LeClaire, with 15 digs. Howard added 13 digs and 12 kills and Charlie Van Loon added three more blocks.

Corban (5-4) was led by Braun, who finished with a team-high 12 kills and a .345 hitting percentage. She also led all players with four blocks. Dees recorded a match-high 27 assists and Rashelle Davenport finished the night with 11 kills and a match-best 24 digs.

The Beacons will be back in action on Monday afternoon as they play host to Walla Walla University (2-5). First serve is scheduled for 3:00 pm.
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