The Women’s Soccer team concluded their regular season in games against the George Fox Bruins on Friday, Nov. 4 and the Willamette Bearcats on Satuday, Nov. 5. The Loggers lost on Friday to the Bruins in a 3-1 set, but were able to win their last season game on Saturday and beat Willamette 3-0.
In the game against the Bruins, the Loggers came out strong in the first match. They stayed on par with the Bruins until the score was tied at 9-9. From that point the Loggers could not keep up and eventually lost that match 25-14. The Loggers came back tough in the second match, and even though the possession switched between both teams multiple times, the Loggers were unable to pull through and lost the match 25-20. During the third match the Loggers had the lead the entire time, and successfully won that match 18-25. The fourth match was the deciding factor in whether or not the Loggers could tie up the game. The Loggers had control a decent amount of time, but when the Bruins took the lead, the Loggers were never able to regain control and lost the match 25-1.
Senior Brynn Blickenstaff (Eagle, Idaho) led the Loggers in the game with nine kills, making her one kill away from a career of 1,000 kills. Senior Jaime Ecklund (Tacoma, Wash.) had eight kills, and senior Juliette Witous (Sonoma, Calif.) added 15 digs for the Loggers this game.
Saturday’s game was in the Logger’s favor, because they were able to win the set against Willamette even after losing the game on Friday. The Loggers easily won the first match 25-21 and had the lead the entire time. The second match was similar to the first and Loggers took the match 25-13. Within the final match of the game, the Bearcats took an early lead and had a chance for a comeback. However, the Loggers took back the lead and won the set 25-15, sweeping the game against Willamette.
Blickenstaff once again led the Loggers with 10 kills in the game, finally reaching over 1,000 kills in her career as a member of the Logger volleyball team. Ecklund and sophomore Marissa Florant (Palo Alto, Calif.) added seven kills each to the Loggers, helping the team win against Willamette.
The Loggers ended their regular season of games 18-6 overall and 10-6 NWC. In general, 2011 was a successful season for the Loggers. They are currently waiting to see if they will be invited to the NCAA tournament.