LYNNWOOD, Wash. — Walla Walla Community College’s volleyball team battled back after losing four straight sets with a 3-0 sweep at the hands of host Edmonds and then the opener against Skagit Valley.
The Warriors took the next three in a row, upending Skagit Valley and salvaging one of their two matches in the Northwest Athletic Conference tri-meet here on Wednesday.
WWCC wrapped up a busy start to this season — having played 10 matches in five days — with a 6-4 record.
WWCC opened the season 3-3 over the weekend at the two-day NWAC Showcase in Springfield, Ore., and then picked up two wins (including six of seven sets combined against Olympic and Shoreline) in a tri-meet at Shoreline on Tuesday.
But Edmonds made short work of the Warriors here, taking their match with 25-17, 25-22 and 25-22 decisions in succession.
Kassie Collins and Leigha Peebles each scored seven kills in the WWCC effort.
Peebles also made five blocks while teammate Marci Elgan had 17 assists and 12 digs, and Tia Takasaki had 20 digs.
Back at it here against Skagit Valley, the Warriors continued to struggle until late in their second set.
WWCC opened the match with a 25-23 loss before stringing together 25-23, 25-17 and 25-16 victories.
Peebles and Mollie Doyle each finished the match with 13 kills for WWCC, Kayla Lind had 21 assists, Elgan had 22 assists along with 11 digs, and Takasaki had 20 more digs.
Having just been swept by Edmonds, and eager for a turnaround, the Warriors mounted a 20-12 lead in their first set against Skagit Valley.
But the lead soon disappeared behind a pair of Skagit Valley scoring runs, and the Cardinals eventually went up for the first time at 23-22 with possession of the ball.
A Skagit Valley service error tied things up, but then a kill and an ace gave the Cardinals the set.
The second set remained close, both sides taking turns on brief scoring runs into another 23-23 tie.
This time, WWCC prevailed on an Addison Hansen kill and then a Skagit Valley attack error.
The Warriors then jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third set and never looked back as Skagit Valley failed to ever again get ahead the rest of the night.
