TACOMA — Walla Walla Community College won three of five matches, and finished in fourth place at the Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball championship tournament here.
After opening the tournament with a comeback win over Tacoma on Thursday, the Warriors defeated Clark, 3-2, on Friday.
Clark took the first set, 25-21, but WWCC answered with back-to-back wins, 25-16 and 25-22.
Clark then managed to even the match with a 29-27 win in the fourth set, but the Warriors took the tiebreaker, 15-13.
WWCC freshman Lindsey Carpenter led the way with 18 kills and 23 digs.
The match leader in digs was WWCC’s Tori Wegdahl with 48. Dani Burke contributed 35 assists in the win.
Later that night, the Warriors fell to Lower Columbia, 3-2, in a quarterfinal.
WWCC lost the first two sets, 25-21 and 25-23, but rallied with two straight wins, 25-22 and 27-25, to force another tiebreaker. The Warriors lost, 16-14.
WWCC leaders included Morgan Ness with 22 kills, and Carpenter with 16. Wegdahl contributed 33 digs, and Burke had 34 assists.
The double-elimination format placed WWCC in a matchup with Blue Mountain on Saturday morning, and the Warriors made quick work of the Timberwolves, winning in three sets by 25-18, 19-25 and 15-13.
WWCC sophomore Savannah Ruark (Pomeroy High grad) led the team with 10 kills and seven block assists. Carpenter was busy with nine kills and 14 digs.
Linn-Benton ousted the Warriors from the tournament, 2-0, later that afternoon.
Walla Walla finished fourth overall, with three wins and two losses in the three-day tournament.
In the match against L-B, Wegdahl totaled 12 digs and Alexis Garrison made 10. Garrison also served up 10 aces while the team fell, 25-14 and 25-22.
Chelsie Speer was honored as Coach of the Year for the Eastern Region. Ruark and Wegdahl received All-Conference, first-team recognitions.
