Evergreen Leads Willamette into Four Sets Before Losing Match 3-1
Story courtesy of Willamette U Sports Information
September 4, 2008
Salem, OR - Jessica McGraw registered 15 kills, while Jessica Durham and Carli Sash each contributed 14 kills, leading Willamette University to a 3-1 victory over visiting Evergreen State College on Wednesday, Sept. 3. WU won the match 27-25, 25-16, 19-25, 25-15.
Willamette hit .224 as a team, while limiting the Geoducks to a .159 hitting percentage.
Evergreen was led by Kandice Gleaves, who produced 14 kills and by Annie Forman, who recorded 20 digs .
The Bearcats improved to 2-4 on the season. Evergreen State dropped to 0-4. Willamette held a 12-6 lead in the first set, but the Geoducks went on a 9-2 run to move in front, 15-14. The Bearcats also trailed 20-17 and were behind by two points, 23-21, following a kill by ESC's Jessica Dubois.
The 'Cats scored the next two points on an Evergreen serving error and an ace by Kelley Lindstrom to forge a 23-23 tie. WU fell behind on an other kill by Dubois, but staved off a set point with a kill from McGraw. A serving error by McGraw gave ESC another set point at 25-24, before WU rattled off three points in a row to win the set.
The first point was scored on a bad set for the Geoducks. Durham slammed home a kill to give WU a 26-25 lead, then another setting error for the Geoducks.
In the second set, WU never trailed. The score was tied four times early in the set, but the Bearcats went in front for good, 10-9, on a kill by McGraw. The 25-16 win gave the Bearcats a 2-0 lead in the match.
Evergreen State claimed a 25-19 victory in the third set to force a fourth stanza. Gleaves earned four kills with no errors on seven attacks (.571 hitting percentage) during the set. WU led 10-9 before Evergreen went on a 13-5 run to take control at 22-15. Willamette was in charge throughout the fourth set. The Bearcats earned a .346 hitting percentage and had six service aces.
WU never trailed during the set and ESC never got closer than two points. Willamette held leads of 13-9 and 18-11, before claiming a 25-15 triumph.
The Geoducks open their Cascade Conference season tomorrow at Corban College at 7 PM, also in Salem, Ore. Live stats will be available for the game. Saturday they play the Cavaliers of Concordia at 7 PM.