LEWISTON, Idaho -- Junior Anile Clement picked up where she left off last season and posted 26 kills to help the Lewis-Clark State College women's volleyball team to a pair of three-set victories in the opening day of the Holiday Inn Express tourney at the LCSC Activity Center on Friday.
The Warriors, ranked No. 16 in the NAIA, opened their season by dumping Corban College 25-13, 25-15, 25-16, and then finished the opening day of the tournament by stopping another Cascade Conference team, Concordia of Oregon 25-15, 25-14, 25-15.
The pair of victories left LCSC as the only undefeated team in the two-day five-team round-robin tournament.
In other matches on Friday, Concordia pulled the upset of the day and knocked off Westmont 24-26, 10-15, 25-23, 25-18, 15-11. Westmont began the tournament by defeating Northwest 25-21, 25-19, 25-20, but Northwest bounced back to stop Corban in five, 25-22, 15-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-10.
Following LCSC, Northwest, Westmont and Concordia all stand 1-1, while Corban is 0-2.
Action continues on Saturday with four matches. Northwest at LCSC begin play at 11 a.m., followed by Westmont and Corban at 1 p.m. Concordia takes on Northwest at 3 p.m., followed by Westmont at LCSC at 6 p.m.
The Warriors were never threatened in their six games on Friday, winning each by an average of more than 10 points.
"I thought it was a great team effort," LCSC second-year coach Jen Greeny said. "We talked about how we want a balanced attack this year and I thought we showed that today. It's nice to have that many people to put in and contribute."
In the win over Concordia to conclude Friday's play, Clemente led the way with 12 kills, while freshman Josi Lyman added 10. In all, seven Warriors finished with at least one kill and 11 had at least one dig, including 10 apiece from Clemente and sophomore Katie Hinrichs. Freshman Abby Bruya added 16 assists.
"I was impressed with the way the new players are contributing right away," Greeny said. " I think that shows they have come from quality programs to be able to blend in that well."
The Warriors hit .295 in the match, compared to .029 for Concordia, which was paced by Lindsey Fryer's seven kills. Teammate Skyler Kamaka added 19 assists and 12 digs.
In its win over Corban, Clemente and senior Julie Maciboba combined for 24 kills and a .500-plus hitting percentage.
Clemente, an NAIA third-team All American last season, led the way with 14 kills in 24 attempts and also had four of the five service aces in the match. She also led all players with 12 digs.Maciboba added 10 kills, four digs and two solo blocks as the Warriors totaled 35 kills and outblocked Corban 9-1 in the match.
Chelsea Reeher had 13 kills to pace Corban, which led early in all three games before the Warriors went to work. Rashelle Davenport added nine digs.
