KIRKLAND, WA – The No. 17 LC State Volleyball team gutted out an impressive five-set victory over (RV) Northwest (Wash.) on Saturday to win its ninth straight match. The Warriors used set scores of 24-26, 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13 to improve to 6-0 in Cascade Conference play. LC State is one of two teams that remain undefeated in the most competitive conference in the NAIA.
Juliauna Forgach Aguilar led the match with 26 kills and Taylor Boyce tallied a career-high 22. Ella Stosich commanded the back row with a career-best 24 digs and Teagan Scott notched a double-double with 46 assists and 14 digs. Karissa Lindner denied NU at the net nine times to surpass 200 blocks in her career.
HOW IT HAPPENED
LC State got off to a strong start in the first set with a quick 5-1 lead on tallies by Forgach Aguilar and Abby Beaton. A kill by Alba Carpena and an ace by Makenzie Stout grew the margin to 8-4, but the Eagles rallied to tie the set 11-11. The two teams battled back and forth until a four-point run with kills by Forgach Aguilar and Boyce gave LC State a 22-220 edge. Northwest struck for a 5-1 run late in the frame to take the set 26-24.
Kills by Carpena and Forgach Aguilar, along with a block by Lindner and Boyce, put the Warriors up 5-2 in the second set. A swing by Beaton helped grow the difference to 8-3 and back-to-back kills by Boyce made it 10-6. The lead traded hands until a kill by Boyce sparked a short four-point Warrior rally that featured a kill by Forgach Aguilar and block by Forgach Aguilar and Beaton for a 22-17 advantage. Costly errors by the Eagles and a kill by Forgach Aguilar tied the match with a 25-23 set win.
LC State took a 3-1 lead to start the third frame with a kill by Forgach Aguilar, block by Lindner and Forgach Aguilar and an ace by Stosich. Wings by Forgach Aguilar and Boyce helped keep the Warriors in front by a slim margin before three straight kills by Beaton and Forgach Aguilar gave LC State a two-point lead at 11-9. After a back-and-forth had the Warriors behind 20-18, LC State struck for five straight. The run featured three blocks with contributions from Carpena, Lindner, Scott and Forgach Aguilar, and two kills by Forgach Aguilar in the rally had the LC lead at 23-20. A kill by Scott and block by Lindner closed out the frame 25-21.
The fourth set was close throughout until NU put together a four-point run to pull ahead 20-16. Boyce tallied six kills in the set, but the Eagles forced the deciding set with a 25-21 win in the frame.
LC State trailed 8-4 in the fifth as the two teams traded sides in the short set. A block by Lindner and Forgach Aguilar sparked an impactful five-point swing that had tallies from Scott and Lindner to put the Warriors up 9-8. A kill by Scott kept the momentum with LC State and two kills by Boyce moved the score to match point, 14-12. Forgach Aguilar ended the night with a kill to take the set 15-13.
STAT RECAP
Forgach Aguilar tallied her 26 kills with a .226 attack percentage and Boyce added her career-high 22 at a clip of .237. Scott was one assist off her career-best with 46 and completed her double-double with 14 digs.
Stosich collected a career-high 24 digs to go with six assists, another career-best mark, and Kadence Moore had 11 digs.
Lindner put up nine total blocks with eight assists and a solo to give her 202 in her career. Forgach Aguilar added seven blocks to her night and Beaton assisted on three.
The Warriors tallied one more kill than Northwest (61-60) and won the battle in the back row with a dig differential of 85-70.
UP NEXT
LC State is back at home next weekend for Fall Frenzy Weekend with two big-time matchups. The Warriors host No. 1 Eastern Oregon, the only other undefeated team left in the CCC, on Friday at 6 p.m. and No. 12 College of Idaho on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.
