Boxers Ride Block Party For Yoshimura's First Win
Box Score
FOREST GROVE –
Alexa Block's (Sr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) 14 kills led Pacific Friday night as Pacific battled through five sets to give
Kip Yoshimura his first win as head coach as the Boxers outlasted George Fox, 25-22, 25-21, 14-25, 10-25, 15-11, in Northwest Conference volleyball action at the Stoller Center.
Block led a Boxers' offensive attack that hit just .082 for the match, but came alive to hit .300 in the deciding frame to secure the win.
Mariah McHolland (Jr., Renton, Wash.) added 10 kills along with six blocks, while
Emily Farnham (Fr., University Place, Wash.) notched her third double-double of the season with 37 assists and 11 digs.
Becky Sheller (Fr., Gresham, Ore.) added 20 digs.
The victory allowed Pacific (1-7, 1-0 NWC) to snap an eight-match losing streak dating back to last season. It also gave Pacific a measure of revenge over the Bruins, who beat the Boxers in three sets in the season opener back on Aug. 31.
Lucy Capron led George Fox (3-5, 0-2 NWC) with a double-double 13 kills and 12 digs while Tiffany Burk finished with 10 kills. Payton Shrum added 25 assists while Chelsea Wilson finished with 21 digs. The Bruins also finished with 11 blocks, led by six from Kylee Adderson.
Over the first two sets, it appeared that the Boxers had the fire to potentially sweep the match from the Bruins. Pacific opened up a commanding 12-4 lead in the first set thanks to a block by Block and
Marie Rewick (Fr., Honolulu, Hawaii). George Fox climbed back to come within 14-12 on a Pacific attack error, but a string of four points scored by Pacific, including a Sheller ace, made it an 18-12 game. George Fox came back to within 24-22 before Rewick's kill closed out the 25-22 win.
The second set started closer, but the Boxers pulled away late. Pacific owned a 15-13 lead before the Boxers won four straight points, two on Block kills, to open up a 19-13 lead. The Bruins came back to come within 19-18 on a Pacific error, but the Boxers went on to win six of the final nine points of the frame for the 25-21 victory.
George Fox hit just .014 over the first two sets, but came back to play their best volleyball in the third and fourth. The Bruins won the first five points of the third frame and went on to lead by as much as 12 points en route to the 25-14 win. Pacific won just five points off of their own serve in the only set where they finished with a negative hitting percentage (-.029). The Bruins won the first seven points of the fourth set and never looked back in a 25-10 thumping of the Boxers.
Pacific played their best volleyball of the night in the final set, registering eight kills and a .300 hitting percentage. The Boxers vaulted out to the 6-2 lead on
Tiana Greenhalgh's (Fr., Yucaipa, Calif.) ace and owned the 8-3 lead when the two teams switched sides. The Bruins did not go down easily, rallying back to make the score 14-11 before McHolland closed out the match with her 10th kill of the evening.
Pacific plays their third match of the week tomorrow night, traveling south to face Willamette at 7 p.m. George Fox is off until next Friday when they host Puget Sound.
