CALDWELL, Idaho – Down two games to none, behind 23-20 in the third game, playing a team that has not lost a match at home in 42 straight matches, and with opposing fans loudly chanting “overrated”, the Lewis-Clark State volleyball team silenced the crowd as it pulled out a 26-24 win in the third game and went on to blow out the College of Idaho in games four and five on Wednesday. LCSC took the match 20-25, 18-25, 26-24, 25-12, 15-11, and with one of the best comebacks in LCSC volleyball history, the Warriors improve to 20-0 on the season—the best all-time start in program history.  

With its home winning streak finally snapped, the Coyotes fall to 11-7 on the season. 

The Warriors cruised through game four with a .367 hitting percentage while forcing COI to hit just .028. In game five Lewis-Clark State at one point was up 13-6, as it finished the game with eight kills and zero attack errors.  

On the match, LCSC hit .276 to COI’s .061, and recorded 11 blocks to COI’s six. Austyn Lewis led the Warriors at the net, as she had a career high 10 blocks—the most by any Warrior this season. 

Clemente finished with 15 kills, Dana Christiansen had 12, Julie Maciboba had nine, and Lyman ended the match with six. Bruya and Lisa Davis recorded 22 and 21 assists, respectively. Lindsay Scott had 20 digs.  

“We never quit,” said LCSC coach Jen Greeny. “And maybe the College of Idaho crowd did provide a little bit more motivation.” 

Currently ranked No. 11 in the NAIA, the Warriors were knocked around by the unranked Coyotes in the first two games. “They’re a great team, and you can’t make unforced errors against a great team,” Greeny said. “We were doing all the things that we pride ourselves in not doing.”

In game three, LCSC started to limit its errors and was matching the Coyotes point for point. With the score 20-23 and the crowd getting more and more vocal, LCSC’s Josi Lyman smashed back-to-back kills to make the score 22-23, and Katie Hinrichs followed this up with a service ace to tie the game at 23. Then, with the score tied 24-24, Anile Clemente hammered a kill to give the Warriors the lead, and Lyman followed it up with a game-winning kill off of a set from Abby Bruya.  

“I’m very proud of the adjustments we made,” said Greeny. “We talked about blocking better at the game break between games two and three, and we did just that in games three, four, and five.”