PORTLAND, Ore. – The Carroll College volleyball team split a pair of match Friday afternoon in a blistering hot Warner Pacific gym, winning the early match over Warner Pacific 25-21, 25-18, 24-26, 25-22 before falling to Corban 25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 25-18 to move to 3-1 on the season.
The Saints jumped out early on Warner Pacific and built a 12-3 lead in the first set before the Knights battled back into contention, eventually cutting the lead to 22-19 but it was too little, too late and Carroll took the first set 25-21.
The second set began as a back and forth battle. The Saints built a 19-16 lead before going on a 4-0 run to put the set out of reach and eventually winning 25-18.
Carroll was close to closing out the match in set three with match point at 24-23 before the Knights rattled off a 3-0 run to close out the set.
The fourth set again looked to be equally matched and halfway through WPU led 16-15 before the Saints scored six consecutive points to put the set out of reach. A late rally came up short and the Saints prevailed 25-22.
"It has been a tough road trip and I was proud of the way that they responded this morning," head coach Moe Boyle said. "It isn't easy getting ready to play after two tough days of travel and matches. I commend them for their toughness on and battling."
The Saints put up their strongest hitting performance of the season with middle hitters
Mallory Arbizzani and
Brielle Bumgarner leading the way.
Arbizanni tallied a career-high 10 kills with a .643 hitting percentage and a career-high six blocks. Bumgarner tallied 15 kills and an incredible .700 hitting percentage.
"Against Warner I thought we did a lot of good things. Our hitting, especially from our middles was great. Along with the good things, we weren't very consistent at passing but we are improving."
Ayla Carpenter tallied a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs.
Jonni Dorr tallied 29 assists and
Rayna Pilgeram added 14 to go along with her three service aces.
The Saints closed out the trip with a neutral site match against Corban University in Warner Pacific's gym.
Set one was a close affair until, tied at 21, the Warriors rattled off a 4-1 run to close out the set. The second set was a different story. Corban started on a 7-1 and led wire-to-wire to go up 2-0 on the Saints.
Carroll finally got their feet under them in the third set and battled to a 25-22 win to cut the Corban set lead to 2-1.
The fourth set was all Corban however and the Warriors handed the Saints their first loss of the season with a 25-18 set win.
"Corban was a much different story," Boyle said. "You have to give them credit, they came ready to play but on our side, we didn't have any legs left. It was the hottest day in Portland since 1988 and it was hotter in the gym. It isn't an excuse but we have a lot to prove to ourselves when we play corban again in a week."
Bumgarner again had a huge match, tallying 16 kills with no errors for a .552 hitting percentage but
Holly Morehouse is the only other Saint to notch double-digit kills with 10. Kassa had 13 digs and Dorr tallied 35 assists.
The Saints return home for their lone non-conference home match Thursday at the PE Center when they host Evergreen State in a return match. The Saints knocked off the Geoducks yesterday in Olympia 3-1.
