LCSC volleyball team continues to roll, posts 4-0 record at tourney

 08-23-08

The Lewis-Clark State College women's volleyball team finished its impressive run through its own Holiday Inn Express tourney by sweeping both Northwest University of Kirkland, Wash., and Westmont University of Santa Barbara, Calif., on Saturday to complete play in the five-team round-robin tournament undefeated.

LCSC began the day by defeating Northwest 25-12, 25-18, 25-20, while Westmont battled back to hold off Corban 23-25, 25-11, 22-25, 29-27, 15-7. Concordia then defeated Northwest 25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 25-16, and LCSC finished the tournament with its 25-13, 25-18, 25-18 win over Westmont.

The Warriors never lost a game on their way to posting a 4-0 record and claiming the unofficial title. Concordia, which didn't play Corban in the tournament, finished at 2-1, Westmont went 2-2, Northwest went 1-3 and Corban went 0-3.

LCSC, ranked No. 16 in the NAIA, was the tournament favorite, but Westmont, which received votes in the poll and comes from the premier NAIA volleyball conference in the Golden State Athletic Conference, was expected to give the Warriors a tough test. Instead, LCSC disposed of Westmont in the same way it won its first three matches -- in dominating fashion.

Going 12-0 in tournament games, the Warriors also won each contest by an average of nearly 10 points. LCSC also displayed its depth as several freshmen made key contributions.

"It was great to play at home and fantastic to get off on the right foot," LCSC coach Jen Greeny said. "It's always hard at the beginning of the year to know what to expect, but I thought we played well as a team and had a lot of people contribute."

Anile Clemente continued her big weekend with a match-high 16 kills against Westmont.  The 5-foot-11 junior outside hitter had a .467 hitting percentage in the match and also added a team-high 10 digs. In LCSC's four wins, Clemente totaled 53 kills, including a couple of big ones in the second game against Westmont when LCSC had an eight-point lead cut to two midway through the game.

"I think we're working hard and we have some new players with us and they all did a great job," Clemente said. "I think we're having a lot of fun out on the court."

Dana Christiansen added seven kills, while Lauryn Herrick had five for LCSC against Westmont. Abby Bruya and Lisa Davis finished with 12 assists apiece, while Bruya also had eight digs.

While LCSC was strong at the net, Westmont struggled, hitting only .008. Katelyn Lowry led Westmont with nine kills

Against Northwest, Herrick, a freshman outside hitter, led the Warriors with 12 kills, while Clemente added 11. Herrick hit .455 in the match as the Warriors finished with a .324 hitting percentage, compared to .239 for Northwest. LCSC also had 45 kills to 30 for Northwest. Six Warriors had at least four kills and nine players had at least one dig.

Lindsay Scott had 13 digs for LCSC, while Lisa David and Abby Bruya added eight apiece. Bruya also had three of the team's 10 service aces.

Madelaine Krahn led Northwest with 10 kills, while Libby Hellwig had 11 assists and 12 digs.

The Warriors resume action in another five-team round-robin tournament, this time at Concordia University in Portland. On Friday, LCSC will play Holy Names at 2:30 p.m. and Concordia at 7:30 p.m., while on Saturday, the Warriors face Northwest University at 11:45 a.m., and Montana State-Northern at 3:30 p.m.