McGraw Triples Again, But Warriors Fall in Five to Eagles of Northwest

The Warriors will return to conference action on Friday, Sept. 15th, when they travel north to Portland for a match-up with Concordia beginning at 7:00 PM.

Corban's Jessica McGraw

SALEM - Sophomore Jessica McGraw recorded her second triple-double of the week thanks to 12 kills, a match-high 28 assists, and 19 digs, but it was not enough as Corban's women's volleyball team dropped a heart-breaker, 3-2 (18-30, 28-30, 30-25, 30-22, 10-15), to the Eagles of Northwest on Saturday.

Earlier in the week, McGraw posted her first career triple-double (10 kills, 16 assists, and 11 digs) versus her former teammates from cross-town neighbor Willamette University.

Tonight, the 5-foot-7 left-handed hitting transfer helped guide Corban back from a two game-to-none deficit thanks to a combined 6 kills, 13 assists, and 11 digs in games three and four.

Sophomore Chelsea Reeher led the Warriors with 16 kills, while McGraw, senior Hallie Hofferd, and senior Nina Clanton added 12, 11, and 10 respectively.

In the first two games, the visiting Eagles of Northwest had a combined 11 attack errors (two in Game #1 & nine in Game #2) compared to Corban's 16 (8 in each game).

In the middle game, the Warriors began a comeback that would force the fifth and deciding game. Hofferd sparked the rally, along with senior libero Becky Horn, thanks to 5 kills from Hofferd and 7 digs from Horn. The Warriors forced Northwest into its first negative hitting game (-.020) thanks to 9 kills and 10 attack errors as a team. On the other hand, Corban recorded 15 kills with 10 attack errors (.094 hitting percentage) en route to capturing the game by five points (30-25).

In the fourth game, the Warriors jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead before allowing the Eagles to crawl back into the game. Using the support of the Warrior "FAN"-atics, Corban hung tough and thanks to 6 kills by McGraw knotted the match at 2-all thanks to the 8-point victory (30-22).

In the fifth and final game, Northwest jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead before the Warriors crawled back to within 4 points (11-7), but could not hold off their opponents from Kirkland, Washington, as Northwest captured the game by 5 (15-10) and the match in five long games.

McGraw teamed with fellow setter and freshman Amy Thompson for a combined 55 assists (28 by McGraw & 27 by Thompson). Horn anchored the Warrior back line with a match-high 36 digs, while McGraw, Hofferd, Thompson, and Clanton each had double-digit dig totals.

Northwest was led by Kara Van Zanten's match-high 17 kills, while Laura Peterson and Gina Lubanovici added 11 and 10 respectively. Andrea Cotton guided the Eagles' offense with a team-high 26 assists, while Dayna Casseday anchored Northwest's back line with a team-high 26 digs.

Corban is now 2-7 overall, 0-4 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Northwest improves to 6-1 overall, 3-0 in CCC action.

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