LCSC falls in season-opening volleyball match

8-24-06 

After winning the opening two games, the Lewis-Clark State College women’s volleyball team couldn’t keep the momentum going and fell to Oregon Tech 18-30, 25-30, 30-23, 30-28, 15-11 in the nonleague season-opening match for both teams at the LCSC Activity Center on Thursday night. 

The Warriors used strong hitting and aggressive play at the net to capture the first two games, but then Oregon Tech took over to eventually claim the victory. 

“We played well in the first two games but then Oregon Tech figured out what we were doing offensively and we struggled to find some consistency,” LCSC coach Erin Mellinger said. “We need to be more consistent.” 

LCSC, which has only two seniors on the squad, was paced by 19 kills apiece from freshman Kelly Scott of Moscow and sophomore Julie Maciboba of Kennewick. Sophomore Lindsay Scott added nine kills while freshman Brittany Hall had seven.

“We’re young and that can lead to consistency problems, but it’s hard to use that excuse when you play well like we did in the fist two games,” Mellinger said. “It’s definitely disappointing to lose that match.” 

In the final game, LCSC trailed 5-1 before scoring five straight points, including the final two on kills by Maciboba. Oregon Tech’s Katie Coburn served four straight points to put the Owls ahead 12-10, but a kill by Brittany Kubik cut the margin to 12-11. LCSC, however, suffered from two hitting errors at the end as the Owls scored the final three points for the win. 

Kubik added six kills for LCSC, while Dawn Ingham had 21 digs and Lindsey Scott added 20. Mindy Meyer led LCSC with 42 assists. 

Oregon Tech was paced by 15 kills and 25 digs from Krista Wooley. 

Both teams will now take part in the two-day Holiday Inn Express Region I Challenge starting Friday. The tournament features four teams from the Frontier Conference and four from the Cascade Conference and the teams will only play schools from the other conference. Play will be on two courts at the LCSC Activity Center. LCSC and Oregon Tech will again meet at 7 p.m. Friday 

Friday’s schedule

Court 1

1 p.m. – Montana State-Northern vs. Corban
3 p.m. – LCSC vs. Cascade
5 p.m. – Rocky Mountain vs. Corban
7 p.m. – LCSC vs. Oregon Tech

Court 2

1 p.m. – Rocky Mountain vs. Northwest U.
3 p.m. – Oregon Tech vs. Carroll.
5 p.m. – Northwest U vs. Montana State-Northern
7 p.m. – Carroll vs. Cascade. 

Saturday’s schedule

Court 1

11 a.m. – MSU-Northern vs. Cascade
1 p.m. – LCSC vs. Corban
3 p.m. – MSU-Northern vs. Oregon Tech
5 p.m. – LCSC vs. Northwest

Court 2

11 a.m. – Rocky Mountain vs. Oregon Tech
1 p.m. – Carroll vs. Northwest
3 p.m. – Rocky Mountain vs. Cascade
5 p.m. – Corban vs. Carroll.