LEWISTON, ID – LC State Volleyball won its fifth straight contest to start the 2025 season with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 19-25, 25-19) over Oregon Tech. The OIT Owls entered the match receiving one more vote than the Warriors in the national poll, but strong performances across the court earned LC State its second Cascade Conference victory.
“We know Oregon Tech is a team that has been getting national attention for a reason, so for us to grind it out and come away with that win says a lot about our group’s growth and resilience,” coach Katie Palmer said.
Five Warriors had double-digits digs to make for a special might for the back row. Junior Makenzie Stout anchored the group with 17. Setter Teagan Scott notched her second consecutive double-double with a career-high 47 assists to go with 13 digs. She orchestrated an offense that was highlighted by 25 kills by Juliauna Forgach Aguilar.
“OIT put a ton of pressure on us, especially by running their middles, and we had to work hard to slow that down,” Palmer explained. “I’m really proud of how our group responded. Jules (Forgach Aguilar) was just steady and efficient all night with 25 kills and hitting .389 is a huge lift for us. Teagan had a career night running the offense.
Overall, I think our defense was the difference maker,” Palmer added. “We had five Warriors in double digit digs including four of our ‘Bomb Squad’ members: Ella (Stosich), Hannah (Dotson), Makenzie, and Kady (Moore).
LC State remains unbeaten on the season (5-0, 2-0) while OIT is now 6-3 overall and 0-2 in CCC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Taylor Boyce put the first point on the board with a kill before Oregon Tech took an early 2-1 edge. Forgach Aguilar tallied a pair of kills before an ace by Ella Stosich and block by Karissa Lindner and Forgach Aguilar made it 5-2. OIT took a 12-8 lead after a back-and-forth battle, but swings by Abby Beaton and Boyce, along with an ace by Teagan Scott, knotted the score 12-12.
The set remained close until the Warriors broke a 20-20 tie with five straight points. Boyce and Forgach Aguilar went back-to-back to start the run before another swing by Forgach Aguilar helped end the set 25-20.
Two kills by Forgach Aguilar and a service ace by Stosich had LC State out to a 3-1 lead in the second frame. OIT rallied to surge ahead 7-4 before a swing by Forgach Aguilar and ace by Stout had the Warriors back within one at 7-6. Three straight kills by Lindner, Beaton and Boyce tied the set 9-9, and a kill by Boyce and ace by Scott put LC State ahead 11-10.
The Owls responded with short run to take a 14-12 advantage, and the Warriors answered with four points on kills by Forgach Aguilar, Lindner and a block by Alba Carpena and Lindner for a 16-14 edge. A pair of kills by Boyce and an ace by Ashlyn Watt broke a 19-19 tie for a 22-19 Warrior lead, and two more kills by Boyce helped end the frame 25-21.
After a kill by Boyce to start the third set, Forgach Aguilar added three of her own for a 4-2 margin. Swings by Boyce, Beaton and Forgach Aguilar made it 12-10 before tallies by Beaton and Carpena had the lead at 14-11, but Oregon Tech found momentum to pull ahead 19-17. An ace by Watt evened things up 19-19, but OIT scored six straight to end the set 25-19.
LC State regained its footing in the fourth frame with a block by Forgach Aguilar and Beaton and an ace by Kadence Moore. After a four-point swing put the Owls in front 4-3, a kill by Forgach Aguilar and two OIT errors had the Warriors back in front 6-4. Three kills by Boyce and one by Carpena fueled a 5-1 run to push the advantage to 14-11.
A five points LC State run with tallies by Boyce, Watt, Beaton and Scott pushed the score to set point before OIT fought off the Warriors to cut the margin to 24-19. A block by Beaton and Scott ended the match with a 25-19 set win.
STAT RECAP
Stout anchored a busy back row with 17 digs, Stosich collected 16 and Dotson added 14. Moore had 11 digs and Scott tallied 13 with her career-high 47 assists.
Forgach Aguilar led the offense with 25 kills which ties her own mark for fourth in a four-set match at LC State. She did so at a .389 clip on only four errors and Boyce added 20 kills.
Lindner, Beaton and Scott each had four blocks on the night and Forgach Aguilar assisted on three. The Warriors served 10 aces led by three from Watt. Stosich, Scott and Stout each had two.
Savanna Sterck led OIT with 14 kills and Aleksen Thayer added seven. Lucy Boyd dished out 39 assists and Abigail Sorensen had 17 digs.
LC State held OIT to a .141 attack percentage and notched 10 more kills with a difference of 55-45.
UP NEXT
The Warriors hit the road for the first time this season on Tuesday when they take on a hot Walla Walla (Wash.) team in College Place, Wash.
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