Evergreen Geoducks tame Walla Walla Wolves in five-set thriller to avenge earlier loss 

The Evergreen State College volleyball team organized a block party performance to survive a five-set win over Walla Walla University, 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-11) away from home last Saturday, October 12 at the Walla Walla Community College campus. 

It’s a team effort for the Geoducks in this five-setter win, highlighted by their 15 team points off blocks, their highest so far this season. Sophia Scroggins had 14 kills and nine blocks, while Marin Collins had seven kills and 11 blocks as both middle blockers were aerial threats in the defense. Lucendy Perez was also vital for both ends with 11 kills and 24 digs in a rare double-double. 

Along with the standout Geoducks were Molly Packer being dependable on floor defense as usual with 23 digs while setters Maloree Calzadillas and Jessica Mitchell set up the plays with 26 and 18 assists respectively. Yasmin Dilworth also had a shout with eight kills and two blocks. 

This Evergreen win was vital for the team as they snapped out of their five-game losing streak, to which they only won one set out of the possible fifteen. This is also their first win this October, as they got even with the Wolves who won the reverse fixture 3-0 in Olympia last September. 

It is a see-sawing affair for both teams as the Geoducks, after establishing an early 15-12 lead in the opening set, could not impose their advantage with the Wolves forcing to draw nearer with 15-15, then again at 23-22, before Lucendy Perez decided the ender in the first set with both points to get set number one, 25-22. 

The Wolves got even in the second set as the Geoducks just cannot chase the Wolves after they established an opening 13-6 lead as they easily got even 1-1.  

The momentum continued in the first set, with Walla Walla having an early 8-3 lead but was cut short due to errors affecting their game while Evergreen took full advantage, and a set-winning kill by Walker Campbell finished off the set to give the advantage to the Geoducks 2-1. 

Despite a good 3-0 start in the fourth set, the Geoducks couldn’t seal the win in this canto as Walla Walla, led by top scorer Sahara Browning, bursted at 0.167 hitting percentage, along with key points from Femke Eising and Kiana Cueto to force a do-or-die fifth set. 

The match continued to be close in the fifth set as both sides committed vital faults and costly errors. At 10-10, Evergreen orchestrated a 5-1 run inspired by kills from Lucendy Perez and the blocking duo of Sophia Scroggins and Marin Collins to finally seal the game and get a breath of relief for the Geoducks. 

Evergreen improved to a 4-9 win-loss record in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, while Walla Walla fell at 6-7. The Geoducks are ranked ninth out of 12 participating schools as of writing. 

The Geoducks will travel to two Portland schools this weekend, as they will play at Warner Pacific University on Friday, October 18, before facing Multnomah the following day. Earlier last September, Evergreen hosted and won both of their games against these two teams.