LA MIRADA, Calif. – Facing two nationally-ranked squads, the College of Idaho played two extremely close matches, but dropped both contests on the final day of the 2015 Red Lion-Anaheim Summer Slam.
The Lady Yotes (0-4) were turned away in three sets by No. 15 ranked Davenport (25-21, 25-23, 28-26), while in the evening match, No. 8 ranked Vanguard held off C of I in five set (25-20, 19-25, 25-13, 20-25, 18-16).
Abbey Fenton led the way in the two matches, combining for 35 kills, but C of I recorded 57 hitting errors in the eight sets played.
Against the Michigan based Panthers (1-3), the Lady Yotes fell behind 12-7 in the opening set, before a pair of
Jackie van Vliet blocks keyed a 9-2 run to give C of I a lead. Leading 19-17, DU took advantage of three-straight Coyote hitting errors to regain the lead and cruised to the set win.
A tight Set 2 was all square at 17-17, but the Panthers were the beneficiary of three C of I miscues, giving DU a lead they would not relinquish.
Set 3 was all C of I early, as three Fenton kills helped the Yotes to a 7-0 lead. Holding a 14-7 edge, the Coyotes watched DU get four Krissy Dill spikes in an 11-3 run to take the lead. The Yotes battled back, earning three set points late, but the Panthers earned side-outs, and then won the match with a Molly Lameyer kill and a Morgan Torres ace.
Fenton led C of I with 12 kills, with
Kylie Porter recording nine kills and van Vliet notching six kills and seven blocks.
Sierra Porter had 32 assists and nine digs, with
Kilee Lopez leading the Yotes with 18 digs.
Lameyer led DU with 10 kills.
Delayed nearly two hours due to the length of earlier matches, the C of I-Vanguard lived up to the nationally-ranked hype.
Set 1 featured nine ties, the last at 16-16, before a Stephanie Flores kill started a three-point Lions (2-2) surge to regain the lead at win the period.
C of I took command of Set 2 with an 11-3 run to grab a 16-9 lead, forcing nine VU hitting errors in evening the match. The Lions countered in Set 3, scoring 15 of the final 16 points of the frame to earn the win.
The Yotes forced a final set after withstanding 11 ties in Set 4, using a four-point push to break an 18-18 tie.
In the deciding set, C of I rolled to a 7-2 lead, but four Rachel Barker kills helped VU run off 7-of-8 points to take a 12-11 lead. Three Fenton kills staved off three match points, but kills from Taylor Jackson and Barker broke a 16-16 tie and ended the marathon.
Fenton had a career-high 23 kills and 10 digs; Kylie Porter had 12 kills; Sierra Porter led all players with 35 assists; and Lopez logged 26 digs. Charlotte Heerlyn had 18 kills for VU and Rebecca Lowden led all players with 29 digs.
C of I returns to action on Tuesday, hosting rival Northwest Nazarene at 7 p.m.
