Evergreen State leaps into hot form with two weekend wins

After losing their first four conference games this year, the Evergreen State College Geoducks slowly built up their winning form in two important victories over the weekend. They squeezed past Multnomah in a thrilling five-setter 3-2 on Friday, Sept. 20, before sweeping a hapless Warner Pacific University 3-0 the following day. 

This brace of games in the win column comes on the heels of their first competitive win of this season last week on Tuesday (Sept. 17), when they beat Northwest University, 3-2, on the Lady Eagles’ home court at Kirkland, WA, for their first win of the season. The first set of this game was also the first set the Geoducks won this season, having been swept in all four of their opening defeats. 

As of this writing, the Geoducks stand in 8th place out of 12 competing schools in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) with their 3-4 conference win-loss record.  

The Geoducks will attempt to keep the winning momentum moving in their favor as they travel to Oregon on another road trip to face Oregon Tech on Friday, Sept. 27 and Southern Oregon University the next evening. Oregon Tech currently holds a 1-6 win-loss record, while on the flip side, Southern Oregon University leads the standings with their 6-1 record. 

Evergreen State 3, Multnomah 2: Geoducks tame Lions in five set thriller 

The Geoducks won their second straight five-setter, avoiding a reverse sweep against Multnomah University, 3-2 (25-17, 25-22, 19-25, 22-25, 15-7) in their return home to Costantino Recreation Center in Olympia last Friday (Sept. 20). 

Sophomore middle blocker Sophia Scroggins continued her top form with 17 kills and five blocks, while libero Molly Parker proved vital again with 35 digs. After a see-sawing start to the opening set, the Geoducks capitalized on the Lions’ error-laden play, and blocks from Ashley Walker Campbell ballooned the gap to 19-12. The Olympia women sustained the lead through the end of the set, 25-17.  

The Geoducks were off to a hot start in the second set, opening it with a 6-0 run. Multnomah rallied in an effort to keep it close, but efforts from Lucendy Perez and Scroggins decided the set, 25-22. 

They could have closed the match on straight sets, leading 13-9 at one point in the third set, but a string of errors overturned the Geoducks’ fortunes. The Lions held Evergreen scoreless in a 6-0 run to take a 15-13 advantage. They sustained the lead to get one set back. The momentum continued in the fourth set for the visitors from Portland, OR, as they forced a deciding set. 

In that deciding set, Scroggins and Perez took over as they exchanged points for Evergreen, returning two for every point the opponents managed, thereby sealing the win, 15-7. 

Evergreen State 3, Warner Pacific 0: Three wins in a row for the Geoducks in their first clean sweep this season 

The Evergreen State volleybelles continued their winning form the following day, wasting no time in blanking Warner Pacific University in straight sets (25-22, 25-15, 27-25) in a much-needed confidence boost for the Geoducks, still at home at Constantino. 

Junior setter Jessica Mitchell contributed 17 excellent sets while Marin Collins had eight kills and three blocks in their third straight win this season. 

The Geoducks set off to a scorching start with a 14-7 lead in the opening salvo. The visitors tried to salvage the set with a run of their own to cut the lead to one at 23-22 before kills from Scroggins and Yasmin Dilworth sealed the opening set.  

Evergreen continued to be in the driver's seat for the second set, extending an early 7-1 run to 20-12 thanks to efforts by Scroggins and Mitchell before ending the second set with a 10-point advantage. 

WPU, on the verge of a sweep, kept it close in the third set, keeping the home side at arm's length despite the frantic runs of the Geoducks. After an opening 8-8 deadlock, the Geoducks launched a 5-0 run, but the Lady Knights responded with a 5-0 run of their own to make it 15-15.  

The two teams battled point-for-point up to 24-24. A service error from the Knights and a service ace by sophomore setter Jayden Vaimaona sealed the Evergreen win at 27-25 in the third set.