LBCC Volleyball – Roadrunners Record Win on Sophomore Night

Albany, OR – The Linn-Benton volleyball team not only celebrated their sophomores Friday, October 27, but they won as well.

Against Southwestern Oregon Community College, the Roadrunners notched their 28th win in as many games this season, taking all three sets. The Lakers entered the match at 13-11, including a 7-5 record in NWAC play, while the Roadrunners came to the Activities Center with a 12-0 record in the NWAC.

The Lakers were able to keep up with the Beaks in the opening of the first set with three kills and three errors from LB. With the game tied at 6-6, the Roadrunners reeled off nine straight points with two kills from Maddy Hellem and one from Grace Luttrell. 

After every point, Beaks exclaimed their support, hoping to add to Linn-Benton’s unbeaten streak.

With LB leading at 16-6 in the first set, the two teams began trading off points; SWOCC logged two kills and then two errors to bring the score to 17-8. A barrage of kills from Linn-Benton’s Maddy Hellem, Grace Boeder, Brooke Rogers, and Olivia Hisaw brought the Beaks to the precipice of taking the first set before the Roadrunners closed it out with a service ace.

The second set followed a similar pattern, again being tied at 6-6. Grace Boeder opened the set with a kill, which was followed by an attack error from SWOCC’s Ashlee Tims. SWOCC retorted with two kills before the teams traded a flurry of errors. With the score at 6-6, Hisaw swatted home a kill, SWOCC’s Alannah Gee made an attack error and LB’s Desiree Tupua served up an ace to hand the Beaks 9-6 lead. 

After a SWOCC timeout, the Lakers took four of the next six points to tie the second set at 11-11. The Roadrunners, not to be intimidated, reeled off four straight points, including a kill and an ace from Boeder, to make it 15-11. After two LB errors, the Beaks went on another run, this time six points, to establish a 21-13 lead with two kills from Tupua, one kill from Hisaw, and an ace from Avery Hughes. 

After an LB service error, the Roadrunners ran away with four of the last five points in the set led by another kill from Hellem and another from Luttrell. Leading 2 sets-to-0, the Roadrunners’ loyal fans continued to cheer voraciously for each point.

The third set, seemingly a clone of the first two, saw LB open a 2-0 lead off of errors from SWOCC. With kills from Boeder, Tupua, and Rogers, the Beaks led 6-5 before going on a 5-1 run to bring the score to 11-6. The Lakers went on a run of their own and narrowed the Roadrunners’ lead to 15-12. 

But as every Roadrunner opponent before the Lakers this season has learned, the Beaks know how to close out a game. LB won seven of the next nine points, featuring kills from Boeder, Luttrell, and Rogers and an ace from Tupua. At 22-14, the Lakers mounted a final attempt at a comeback, but the Beaks bested it utilizing a kill from Hellem to help close out the set and match.

The Roadrunners’ Meah Carley was available for comment following the event, saying, “I think we attacked the block really well… our hitters hit the block really well.” Carley went on to make a statement of appreciation for the sophomores:

“The sophomores have helped us learn so much that all of us want to play our best for them. I’ve learned a lot from them and I hope we can play well tomorrow, too.”

For the match, Grace Boeder and Maddy Hellem led the Beaks with eight kills; Tupua, Rogers, Hisaw and Luttrell each notched four kills. LB’s Kinsey Brelage logged 17 digs, while Tupua and Hellem each added 10 to the stat sheet. 

After the contest, the Roadrunner sophomores were honored in an on-court ceremony, including Luttrell, Rogers, Hisaw, Lexi Eldridge, Boeder, and Stella Barber. The students were brought to the center of the court, along with their families, while their majors were announced as well as the universities they intend on transferring to.

LB will maintain their position atop the NWAC South at 13-0, and will play their final home game of the regular season on Saturday, October 28 at 2:00 p.m. at the Activities Center in Albany.