EUGENE, Ore. – Bushnell fought through a few missteps in their opening set before cruising to a four-set win over Evergreen State on Friday night, 25-27, 25-16, 25-20, 25-19.
Hailey Heider led the way for the Beacons as she collected 25 kills.
The Beacons (12-6, 7-3 CCC) hit .265 in the match, including a statement-making 17 kill, five error performance in the decisive fourth. Bushnell held an insurmountable 66-36 advantage on offense and used a 62-52 margin in digs as they held ESC (3-11, 3-7) to .093 hitting.
"We did a great job controlling the ball at the net tonight," said Heider, "and we found ways to score and keep them out of system. Our serving and passing really put all the pressure on their side of the net."
Heider racked up nine kills in the first set alone and cruised to a new career high, collecting 25 kills on 54 swings, hitting .278. She also scored 3 blocks and two aces and personally accounted for 29 of the Beacons 100 points. She was joined by a solid right-side attack from both
Leah Agost and
Matty Ladd who added eleven kills each, combining for just four errors and a .367 attack.
The setting duo of
Katie Belitz and
Elijah Sanders were impressive, combining for 62 assists and 14 digs as they each totaled exactly 31 assists. Sanders said, "I am really proud of how we pulled everything together tonight to pull out the win. Everyone was doing their jobs really well and we were able to keep our momentum throughout the game."
"We found ways to put pressure on them in every aspect," added Belitz. "I am proud of how we turned it around after the first set and showed what we are capable of offensive and defensively.
Defensively, it was
Bella Parque (16 digs) and
Makenna Mosher (four blocks) that set the tone, with
Amyah Semau adding another 14 digs as well.
Evergreen was led by Lucendy Perez with 10 kills and five service aces while Marin Collins feasted at the net with seven kills and seven blocks.
Bushnell will close out their Washington trek against Northwest (7-11, 2-8) on Saturday at 4:00 pm.
