Pioneers Rally To Stun Boxers In Four Sets
Box Score
FOREST GROVE – Pacific could not stop a rally by a scrappy Lewis & Clark squad Saturday as the Pioneers came back from one set down to beat the Boxers in four sets, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-16, in Northwest Conference volleyball action at the Stoller Center.
Pacific (12-9, 6-6 NWC) won convincingly in the first set and held leads in both the second and third, but could not hold off late rallies in both frames by the Pioneers. Lewis & Clark (12-10, 8-4 NWC) went on to force 11 Pacific attack errors in the fourth set en route to the easy victory to seal the match.
The Boxers hit an impressive .484 in the opening set, but finished with a team .176 hitting percentage for the contest.
Kelsy Takashima (Sr., Kaunakakai, Hawaii) led the way with 18 kills and three service aces.
Mariah McHolland (So., Renton, Wash.) added 12 kills and
Haley Bedell (Fr., Bothell, Wash.) had 11.
Keahi Braginsky-Ahloo (So., Wahiawa, Hawaii) had 21 digs and
Malea Webb (Fr., Spokane, Wash.) contributed 28 assists.
Jennifer Dowdy led Lewis & Clark with 14 kills and 10 digs as the Pioneers finish with a .240 hitting percentage. Brigitte Russo added 11 kills while Margaret Dowling, Kataleya Milan and Alicia Callejo-Black all had eight kills. Dowling added 22 digs while Leia Matsunaga finished with 44 assists.
Pacific was hitting on all cylinders in the opening set, smashing 18 kills against just three errors. The Boxers jumped out to a 10-6 lead on a kill by Jowell Guerriero (Fr., Kailua, Hawaii). The lead was 15-11 before the Pioneers came back to within a point on a kill from Russo, but the Boxers won the next five points, two of which came on Gabriela Webb (Fr., Olympia, Wash.) service aces. That gave the Boxers the pad they needed to go on to the 25-19 win.
The Boxers opened the second set in a deficit, but bounced back to tie it at 9-9 on a L&C ball handling error. A service error gave Pacific the 12-11 lead and started a four-point for the Boxers, culminating on a Pioneers' attack error that made it 15-11. Takashima later added a service ace to make it an 18-13 Pacific edge. The Pioneers bounced back and tied it at 19-19 on a Dowling kill. The set was tied 23-23 when Russo and Dowdy accounted for the final kills of the frame to make it a 25-23 win for L&C.
Pacific led the third set from the start, going up 14-7 on a Bedell kill. The Pioneers slowly came back throughout the second half of the frame, closing to within 19-17 on an attack error. Pacific led 20-17 before the Pioneers went on a six-point run. The Pioneers used two attack errors and two Elena Hoff aces to take the 22-20 lead. Pacific rallied to tie it at 22-22 on a Guerreiro kill before Russo smashed home two kills to finished off the 25-22 win.
Outside of a pair of early one-point leads for the Boxers, it was all Pioneers in the fourth set. Matsunaga served L&C to five straight points to build a 9-4 lead. The Boxers were within one point, 14-13 on a Takashima kill, before the Pioneers put together a seven-point run. Callejo-Black had two kills in the run that made it a 21-13 L&C lead that that effectively closed out the match.
Pacific returns to action on Wednesday when they host George Fox at 7 p.m. Lewis & Clark returns to action on Friday when they host Linfield.
