While it may be hot in The Valley, nothing may be more on fire than OUAZ Women's Volleyball. After a dramatic 5-set victory against Hope International last night, the Spirit carried that momentum over to Friday where they took a 3-1 victory over GSAC foe Life Pacific (10-10 Overall, 1-5 Conference). OUAZ has now won five of their last six matches. The win moves the Spirit to a season high two games over .500 at 7-5 and gives them a conference record of 4-1 which is good enough to put them in second place in the GSAC standings.
Set 1:
The first set started out strong for the Spirit as they went on to win 25-18. Lauren Wamsley led the effort with four kills, followed by Jenna Sarff with three kills, with Jessica Pearce, Keira Adrian, and Katy Shockey each having two kills of their own.
Set 2:
The second set was a back-and-forth affair that ended with a Life Pacific victory 25-23. Wamsley and Kaitlin Brown both led the attacking effort with three kills apiece. Both Wamsley and Beatriz Paolinetti both had service aces as well in the effort.
Set 3:
The Spirit were off to a tough start after falling behind 4-0 early but stormed back to take a 25-21 victory. Brown led the scoring effort with nine kills, with help from Wamsley who amassed four kills and a service ace, and Sarff with three kills.
Set 4:
After being down 11-4, the Spirit rallied with 12 unanswered points to take a 16-11 lead. OUAZ would close out the match outscoring Life Pacific 21-3 to end the night with a 25-14 set victory. The group effort was led by Wamsley with five kills, Logan Kuehn with three kills, Katie Janzen with two kills, and two service aces from Brown.
Top Performers:
Your top performers tonight were Brown, who amassed 15.5 points which included a double-double (13 kills, 12 digs) and two service aces. Then Lauren Wamsley put the Wam in Wamsley as she ended up as the game leader in points (18.5) and posted a double-double with 16 kills and 15 digs. She also added two service aces of her own. The Spirit also got big contributions from Jenna (From Idaho) Sarff (7.5 points and seven kills), Shockey (7.5 points and six kills), Pearce (block solo and four block assists), Paolinetti (21 assists and two service aces), and Kuehn (19 assists, four block assists).
Up Next:
The Spirit head on the road to face Justice College on Tuesday, October 8th at 6pm, before they return home to play West Coast Baptist on Thursday, October 10th at 5pm. A crucial two-game stretch begins on the road where they will play new GSAC foe Benedictine Mesa (11-3 Overall, 3-1 Conference) on Friday, October 11th at 6pm, and longtime rival Arizona Christian (11-9 Overall, 1-4 Conference) Saturday, October 12th, at 2pm.
