Rocky Mountain helps Frontier Conference
 get the best of Cascade
8-26-06 

           LEWISTON, Idaho – By defeating Oregon Tech and Cascade College on Saturday, the Rocky Mountain women’s volleyball team claimed the unofficial Holiday Inn Express Region I Challenge championship by finishing the two-day eight-team tournament at the Lewis-Clark State College Activity Center undefeated at 4-0. 

The tournament matched four teams from each the Frontier Conference and Cascade Conference in round-robin play. Teams only faced colleges from the other conference and the Frontier Conference got the best of the Cascade Conference 10-6. 

Rocky Mountain started the day with a 23-30, 30-25, 30-23, 30-22 win over Oregon Tech, and followed it up with a 30-19, 30-10, 30-25 triumph over Cascade. 

Northwest College and Carroll College both posted 3-1 records, while host Lewis-Clark State and Oregon Tech went 2-2. Corban College and Montana State-Northern went 1-3, while Cascade College went winless at 0-4. 

Northwest College, which lost a tough five-game match to Rocky Mountain to open the tournament on Friday, handed Carroll its only loss on Saturday, claiming a tight 30-28, 30-27, 30-28 win. Northwest also defeated LCSC 30-25, 30-19, 30-18 on Saturday. 

In other matches Saturday, LCSC defeated Corban 31-29, 26-30, 30-21, 30-21, Montana State-Northern stopped Cascade 30-19, 30-10, 30-25, Carroll defeated Corban 30-17, 30-16, 26-30, 30-21, and Oregon Tech topped MSU-Northern 30-27, 30-20, 30-17. 

Oregon Tech is now 3-2 overall, while LCSC is 2-3. The remaining teams were opening their seasons in the tournament. 

Saturday’s matches

Court 1

MSU-Northern def. Cascade 30-19, 30-10, 30-25 – Rachel Mrdeza had 13 kills and Tera O’Haire added 10 to lead MSU-Northern to its lone tournament win. Brittany Sesler had 30 assists and Jessica Ryan finished with five services aces. Cascade was led by four kills apiece from Shar Agee, Amber Thomas and Ashli Itami.

LCSC def. Corban 31-29, 26-30, 30-21, 30-21 – Julie Maciboba had 14 kills, Kelly Scott had 13 and Dana Christiansen added 10 to lead a balanced LCSC attack. Lisa Davis had 40 assists, while Dawn Ingham added 24 digs. Jallie Hofferd had 15 kills for Corban, while Nina Clanton had 14.

Oregon Tech def. MSU-Northern 30-27, 30-20, 30-17 – Maggie Roberts had 16 kills and seven digs, while teammates Krista Wooley and Megan Albertson added 15 and 12 kills, respectively. MSU-Northern was paced by Mrdeza’s 11 kills.

Northwest College def. LCSC 30-25, 30-19, 30-18 – Kara VanZanten had 11 kills and 11 digs, while Cindy Hollar had nine kills and Laura Peterson had eight kills, two service aces and five digs to lead Northwest College. Kelly Scott had 11 kills for LCSC, while Maciboba added eight. 

Court 2

Rocky Mountain def. Oregon Tech 23-30, 30-26, 30-23, 30-22 – Rocky lost only its third game of the tournament, but bounced back to claim the next three and the win behind 21 kills from Sara Shuepbach, while Courtney Arthun added 15. Wooley paced Tech with 20 kills and 11 digs, while Krystie Vea had 18 digs.

Northwest def. Carroll College 30-28, 30-27, 30-28 – Even though Northwest swept the match, it was a see-saw contest throughout. VanZanten and Gina Lubanovici had 12 kills apiece, while Andrea Cotton had 20 assists. Dayna Casseday added 27 digs. Carroll was led by 10 kills apiece from Tiffany Rochelle and Natalie Solomon.

Rocky Mountain def. Cascade 30-12, 30-7, 30-18 – Rocky emptied its bench early in this contest as Erin Pehl had 13 kills, while Melissa St. John had 40 assists. Alicia Charles had five of Cascade’s 12 kills in the match.

Carroll College def. Corban 30-17, 30-16, 26-30, 30-21 – Rochelle had 12 kills, while Christie Tyrrell added 20 assists and Valissa Sneck 25 digs for Carroll. Corban received a strong performance from Hofferd, who finished with 13 kills, 12 digs and two service aces. 

NOTE – Boxes on all tournament matches can be found at http://www.lcsc.edu/athletics/wvb/2006/Schedule/HolidayInnExpressChallenge.htm