McGraw Leads Corban Past Willamette

The Warriors will return to conference action on Friday, when they host Evergreen State College beginning at 7:00 PM inside the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center.

Corban's Jessica McGraw Photo courtesy: Corban College

SALEM - In its first home match of the season, Corban's women's volleyball team swept cross-town neighbor Willamette, 3-0 (30-20, 38-36, 30-23), behind the first career triple-double by sophomore Jessica McGraw.

McGraw, who was playing her first match against her former Bearcat teammates, registered the first triple double for the Warriors in over two seasons thanks to 10 kills, 16 assists, and 11 digs.

In the first game, with the score tied 9-9, McGraw recorded a kill to put the Warriors up by a point and then rattled off 11 straight serves (10 Corban points) before the visiting Bearcats stopped the run with a kill of their own.

Fortunately for the Warriors, they were up by 11 points (20-9) at that point and never looked back despite giving up six straight points on game point.

Corban took the opening game by 10 (30-20) behind a match-high 4 kills from sophomore Chelsea Reeher.

In the middle game, Corban found themselves down by 6 points (20-14) before Willamette was called for a delay of game substitution that awarded the Warriors a point and began a rally. Junior Caylin Goss stepped behind the service line and single-handedly brought the Warriors back with six straight points to go up by a point (21-20).

Both teams traded points and set the game into extra before senior Becky Horn served the final two points to end the longest game of the season, 38-36, in favor of Corban.

In the third and final game, the Warriors jumped out to a 10-1 lead behind the serving of McGraw and Goss before watching Willamette crawl back within 3 points (13-10). With their never-let-die attitude, Corban took control of the game and ended the match in a three game sweep, 30-23.

Reeher ended with a match-high 13 kills, while senior Hallie Hofferd finished with 12 kills. Freshman Amy Thompson guided the Warriors offense with a team-high 21 assists, while Horn anchored Corban's back line with a match-high 30 digs.

Willamette was led by Nikki Lytle's team-high 9 kills, while Julie Stutzman and two other Bearcats added 7 and 5 respectively. South Salem graduate Jessica Drumm guided the Bearcats' offense with a match-high 28 assists, while Jessica Durham anchored Willamete's back line with a team-high 14 digs.

Corban is now 2-5 overall, while Willamette drops to 1-4 overall.

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