THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – After dropping the first matches at the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational, the Linfield Wildcats bounced back with two wins on Saturday against Centenary and Colby-Sawyer with the scores of 3-1 & 3-2 respectively.
With the two wins, the Wildcats snap their five match losing streak and move to 3-5 on the season.
Linfield 3, Centenary (La.) 1
The Wildcats got going early, a kill by
Lori Cimmiyotti gave them the early 11-6 lead over the Ladies.
Centenary got back into the match thanks to two errors by Linfield to tie the first set at 16 and gained steam towards the end of the set to take a 22-20 lead on another error for Linfield.
The Ladies finished the comeback in the first set on an attack error by the Wildcats, 25-21.
Like the first set, the Wildcats jumped out to the early lead in the second set. An ace by
Hannah Waterman lifted the 'Cats up 6-3.
An ace by
Leisa Eto put Linfield up 8-4, which caused Centenary to call a timeout to talk things over.
The timeout changed things up for Centenary helped them go on a 4-0 run and take a 12-11 lead, as Linfield called a timeout.
The Wildcats looked to close out the second up 20-18, but a 5-0 run from the Ladies, including three errors from the Wildcats helped the Ladies get back in the set.
The turning point of the match was when the Wildcats were down 23-21 in the second, coach
Josh Davis put
Kara Thomas into the match and the Salem, Oregon native delivered right away having three kills, including on set point to give the Wildcats the second set, 25-23, and tie the match.
Linfield used the momentum at the end of the second set into the third and jumped to a 6-2 lead early in the set, which caused Centenary call another timeout.
A kill by
Megan Stanek gave the Wildcats a 14-5 lead in the set as Centenary called another timeout.
Three straight errors by the Wildcats allowed the Ladies get back into the set, but a 4-2 run from the Wildcats put them back in control of the set.
The Ladies made things interesting winning two straight points at 24-13, but the Wildcats closed out the third set on an error by the Ladies and went up 2-1 in the match.
Both teams went back and forth to start the fourth set, but a kill by Cimmiyotti gave the Wildcats a slight 10-8 edge, which opened an 8-0 run forcing the Ladies to call a timeout.
The Ladies climb all the way back to tie the set at 18 aided by a couple of errors from the Wildcats, but two straight kills by the Wildcats put them in a prime spot to win the match.
Linfield came back from being down a set to move past Centenary on a kill by
Megan Stanek to win the set 25-20, they move to 2-5 on the season.
Freshmen
Kayla Moss and
Maya Nakasone shined defensively for the Wildcats with 21 and 20 digs respectively.
Thomas, who's three kills at the end second set turned the match around, finished with 10 kills in the match, which led the Wildcats.
Linfield 3, Colby-Sawyer 2
The Chargers grab the early lead at 14-6, but a service error allowed the Wildcats get back in the match and back-to-back aces by
Leisa Eto pulled the Wildcats closer.
Linfield kept chipping away at the Colby-Sawyer lead and took the 20-19 lead thanks to an attacking error.
A kill by Thomas gave Linfield two chances to win the set, but Colby-Sawyer won five of the next six points to win the first set, 27-25.
In the second set, the Wildcats jumped out to a 9-4 lead on an ace by
Tamara Corona and that early lead keep control of the set, but a 7-0 run by the Chargers kept them in the set.
Following that 7-0 run by the Chargers, the Wildcats took back the lead with a 7-0 run of their own highlighted by a kill from Hammock and they closed out the second set on a kill by
Megan Pallas.
In the third set, it was all Chargers as they jumped to a 10-2 lead and continued to roll in the set. A 5-0 run towards the end of the set was not enough for the Wildcats to chase the Chargers, who won the third, 25-20.
Looking to close out Linfield, Colby-Sawyer had 11-9 lead in the fourth, but back-to-back aces by Dixon gave the Wildcats the 14-11 lead and they won the fourth on another back-to-back aces by Dixon.
In the deciding set, it was all Wildcats who led 5-2 on a kill by Stanek and they led 14-7 thanks to two kills by Krisen Hale.
Linfield won the deciding set on an attacking error by Colby Sawyer, to split the four matches at the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational, winning the last two.
Hammaock led the way with 17 kills, Nakasone had 15 digs and Dixon had seven aces.
Dixon also set up her teammates throughout the game with 37 assists in the match.
The improvement in the hit percentage was the difference for Linfield, who hit 11% of the shots, compared to eight percent from Colby-Sawyer.
This was the first fifth-set match of the season for the Wildcats, which was the first since October 28, 2017 against Puget Sound and first fifth-set win since September 2, 2017 against Montana Western.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats head to the Midwest to participate in the Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament in Eau Claire, Wisconsin next weekend.
