The Evergreen State College (TESC) Volleyball season is off to a rusty start as the Geoducks won none of its four opening games in a tournament hosted by the University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana on Aug. 23 and 24.
The Gibson Hotel Volleyball Classic was part of the Geoducks’ preparation for this fall’s volleyball season. They are set to compete in the Cascadia Collegiate Conference (CCC), starting their CCC campaign by hosting Walla Walla University on September 6.
The Geoducks are in a rebuilding phase as they will try to return to the CCC playoffs for the first time since 2022 after that year’s 5th place finish. They will try to better their 2023 season, in which they finished in the 10th seed out of 12 participating schools after a 4-22 win-loss record, 4-18 in the conference.
Before kicking off their CCC campaign in September, the Geoducks will try to pick themselves up for another exhibition match as they host Pacific Lutheran University on Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the Costantino Recreation Center at TESC.
The invitational hosts did not waste any time in the opening game, sizzling past the visiting Evergreen State College in a 3-0 blitz (25-12, 25-23, 25-18), as the Geoducks opened their 2024 season outpowered by the Argos.
Junior Geoduck libero Molly Parker worked overtime for the visitors, as she recorded 19 digs for Evergreen, the only individual stat with double digits for the whole squad. The hosts overwhelmed them, led by the attacks of Nina Janjic and Ryann Eddins, while their setter Bella Thompson had the time of her life with 39 sets leading to kills.
After a slow first set where the closest they came to the Argos was trailing 8-5, the Geoducks tried to get one set back in the second. Sophia Scroggins led the Greeners to a 5-4 lead, before the hosts turned it over and flipped the lead to their favor at 15-10 just right before the technical timeout. The Geoducks kept it close to the death at 24-23 before Cabry Taylor finished the set to break Evergreen hearts.
Down two sets to none, Evergreen kept it close in the third set as they tried to steal one set back, with their closest margin trailing 12-11. The scores were 15-13 before the Geoducks gave up five unanswered points as they fell to the dominant hosts, 25-18.
Just a few hours after that crushing loss in the opening salvo, the Lady Geoducks still could not win one set after dropping another 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-12) loss at the hands of Arizona-based Ottawa University.
Parker produced another gallant effort as the libero of the losing side, with 13 digs the best of the bunch, but this performance was no match for the opposition's attacking options.
It was a similar story to the opening game, with the Geoducks being blown out by the opponent’s wild runs in the first and third set while just close to winning a competitive second set. The Geoducks led 22-19 at one point in the second set before the Ottawa Spirit orchestrated a 6-0 run to overturn what could have been a winnable set for Evergreen.
The dominance was seen in the box scores as Ottawa’s 49 kills were just too much for Evergreen’s 19. Despite the loss, Evergreen’s individual stats improved from the first game as senior setter Maloree Calzadillas led with 11 excellent sets.
The following day, Evergreen faced the hosts again and won their first set of this season despite dropping their third consecutive defeat, 3-1 (25-15, 25-11, 21-25, 25-11) against the Lady Argos.
After dropping the first two sets with double-digit gaps, Evergreen finally woke up and struggled to keep the match close, keeping leads of 8-7 and 16-12 at the technical timeouts. Providence tried to tie the set at 16 and 18 but a 5-1 run led by freshman opposite hitter Bright Brubaker and middle blocker Kiayah Brown opened the gap to 23-19. The ladies from Olympia finished off with a Yasmin Dilworth kill to finally get one set back.
Unfortunately, the Geoducks were gassed out, and the hopes for a reverse sweep were killed off by a 12-3 run in the fourth set leading to the end of the match.
Parker went berserk again in the defensive end with 25 digs, while setters Jessica Mitchell and Calzadillas had 14 and 12 excellent sets respectively. Lucendy Perez also scored the first service ace for the Geoducks for the whole tournament.
Stats from the box score show the dominance of Providence in the kills, with their 54 kills, almost double the 29 from Evergreen, but the Geoducks’ nine points from blocks are higher than that of their opponents (four), which could be vital for their strategies in future competitive games.
The Geoducks finally ended the tournament with a barnburner 5-set defeat to Montana State University Northern, 3-2 (25-14, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-9).
It was a heartbreaking loss as the Geoducks just couldn’t catch a break to win one match as they were plagued with crucial errors. Evergreen marginally led the Skylights on total kills (56 vs 48), excellent sets (49 vs 44), and digs (87 vs 81), but the errors leading to opposition points (35 vs 25) led the Montana side towards the win by the finest of margins.
Scroggins and Perez led the attacks with 14 and 13 kills respectively, while Calzadillas and Mitchell shared responsibility on the sets with 23 and 22 assists each. Packer ended the tournament with a total of 83 digs in four matches, or around 5.5 digs per set, while her libero counterpart Amaialyne Cepeda had 23 in this final match.
"Molly is a big asset to our team's defense, as she reads well and is quick on her feet," Evergreen Head Volleyball Coach Carissa Bounds commented. "She is a defensive leader, as well as a strong voice on our court who isn't afraid to run a ball down. She constantly gives 100% effort."
The Geoducks will host Pacific Lutheran University in an exhibition match at the Costantino Recreation Center on Wednesday, Aug. 28. Match time is scheduled for 5 p.m. local time.
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