COLLEGE PLACE, Wash. — The Walla Walla Women's Volleyball team opened up Cascade Conference play with a straight set victory over (RV) Oregon Tech at Windemuth Court on Friday.
WWU won with set scores of 25-10, 25-19 and 29-27.

The win improved the Wolves' record to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in CCC action. It was the first victory for WWU volleyball against the Owls in 23 attempts. Oregon Tech dropped to 6-2 overall and 0-1 in the Cascade Conference.

"I saw everything that we've been working on all week at practice come out on the court so that was really exciting," Walla Walla coach Kiana Krumm said. "I saw non-stop pressure, I saw them pushing every single point."

The Wolves were led by fantastic serving by Yaimaris Garcia who had eight aces, tied for the second most in a single match in program history. Garcia added a team-high 13 kills with 14 assists and five digs.

Last week's NAIA Attacker of the Week, Sahara Browning, had 11 kills with a hit percentage of .276. Paula Flores added 12 kills, Deshy Sandoval had 23 assists and Vicky Giardina finished with 20 digs.

Walla Walla had 48 kills in the match and a strong attack percentage of .278. The Wolves also had 12 service aces in the sweep. WWU jumped out to a hot start with 15 kills and no errors in the opening set.

Aleksen Thayer led the Owls with nine kills with no errors and Lucy Boyd finished with 19 assists. Alison Miller and Abigail Sorensen tied for the team lead with nine digs each.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was all Wolves early as Walla Walla used an attack error by Willow Jacobson to get on the board. Browning had a pair of kills, Natalia Jimenez got one of her own and Flores earned a service ace and the Wolves jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. The Owls would take three of the next four points before a service error swung the momentum back to the home team.

Garcia and Browning each put one away to start an 8-1 streak for WWU and two points later it was Flores with a kill to push the lead to 15-5. The Wolves refused to slow down and back to back aces by Garcia pushed the lead to 12. Jimenez, Browning and Garcia went on another run for the pack with kills and two points later Garcia gave the Wolves a set point. Two points later a block assist by Flores and Myckayla Shaver closed out a dominant first set.

Walla Walla did not rest on their accomplishments and sprinted out to a 7-2 lead in set number two. Oregon Tech battled back and won eight of the next 10 points and took a 10-9 lead. The Wolves did not let the visitors lead for long as Flores slammed one home and Garcia followed up with a point of her own. After a Savanna Sterck kill for OIT, the home team took the lead for good off an attack error and back-to-back aces by Garcia extended the lead to 14-12. Another Garcia ace closed out the second set and the Wolves took a two set to none lead.

Flores opened the third set with a kill and Jimenez spiked home a pair of her own to give the home team an early advantage. Oregon Tech answered back with three points of its own and the two teams went back and forth early on in the set. Another ace by Garcia started a streak of six-of-seven points won by Walla Walla and the Wolves led 13-8.

WWU extended the gap to 21-13 and looked to close out the straight set victory, but the Owls refused to go away quietly. OIT took advantage of a service error and two attack errors and cut the lead to five. Oregon Tech cut the lead to three before Browning slammed one home and Walla Walla pushed for match point at 24-20. The Visitors again forced the issue and forced three blocking errors with strong upfront play and a kill by Goss and Thayer gave OIT a set point at 25-24. Garcia tied the set with a kill. Thayer again gave Oregon Tech a set point with a kill of her own. Garcia had back-to-back kills to set up another match point. Thayer extended the match with another kill, but a Flores kill and another ace by Garcia closed out the upset victory.

UP NEXT

The Walla Walla Wolves will host No. 19 Southern Oregon at 9 p.m. on Saturday at Windemuth Court.

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