LCSC sizzles at 21-1
The most successful collegiate volleyball program in the region resides in Lewiston.
Lewis-Clark State College opened the season by winning 20 straight matches for the first time in school history. The Warriors are 21-1 and were No. 9 in last week’s NAIA poll, prior to dropping their first match to Montana Tech and falling to 11th this week. LCSC hadn’t been ranked in the top 10 since the late 1990s, about the time head coach Jennifer (Stinson) Greeny was finishing up her standout playing career at Washington State.
This is Greeny’s second season at LCSC and she directed a remarkable turnaround in her first year. Picked in the preseason to finish sixth in the eight-team Frontier Conference, LCSC won the regular-season title and conference and regional tournament championships. The Warriors went 1-2 in their first appearance at the NAIA tournament since 1999. LCSC made five trips to nationals from 1994-99 under Kip Yoshimura, now the head coach at Gonzaga.
“We had a lot of returners coming back from previous years that hadn’t done very well, but we also had the addition of a couple of players that made a big difference,” Greeny said. “We didn’t really know what to expect, but it was great to get the program turned around and have those players that hadn’t had a lot of success taste what it was like.”
The Warriors have swept 17 matches this season. Four players have 100-plus kills – Anile Clemente (267), Julie Maciboba (148), Dana Christiansen (124) and Josi Lyman (115). Clemente was a third-team NAIA All-American last season. Setters Abby Bruya (Colfax High) and Lisa Davis have combined for 686 assists.
The Frontier Conference tournament will be held at LCSC on Nov. 14-15, but Greeny, who is assisted by her husband Burdette, a former WSU baseball player, isn’t looking too far ahead.
“We really have been taking it one match at a time, and I think that’s what we need to keep doing,” she said. “There are always things we can work on.”
Cloudy Sky
At the halfway point, the top seven Big Sky teams are separated by just two games. Northern Colorado leads the way at 6-2. Eastern Washington and three others are a game back. Montana and Northern Arizona are knotted at 4-4. If NAU had defeated Northern Colorado last Saturday, there would have been a five-way tie for first. The Bears, however, won in four games.
“I felt all along, preconference standings and polls aside, that it would be close,” said EWU coach Miles Kydd, whose team entertains Idaho State on Thursday and Weber State on Saturday.
Asked about his team’s position, Kydd said, “I don’t think about that stuff too much. The next game is the only one I’m worried about. My approach is we have a chance to win every match we play.”
Regardless of who wins the regular-season title, the conference tournament will be held at Portland State because the Vikings won the Big Sky title a year ago.
SWAC showdown
No. 11 North Idaho College (6-1) has a Scenic West Athletic Conference showdown with No. 5 Salt Lake (6-0) Thursday at 7 in Coeur d’Alene. The Cardinals have dropped two matches to the Bruins, but one was non-conference. Salt Lake visits No. 12 Southern Idaho (5-2) on Saturday as the top three SWAC teams continue to jockey for position.
“There’s not much difference between the three of us. It makes it fun and it also makes it stressful,” NIC coach Chris Kosty said. “Salt Lake got us in the past with their consistency. They don’t make a lot of errors. As the season has progressed, we’ve become more consistent and error free.”
Notes
Idaho, which entertains rival Boise State on Saturday, has only been swept twice this season, both by New Mexico State. … Washington State tries to snap a 10-match losing streak against No. 6 Washington on Friday in Seattle. … California (17-1, 7-0 Pac-10) stands alone at the top of the conference after defeating host Stanford (15-3, 6-1) for the first time in nearly 29 years at Maples Pavilion. The Bears are off to the best start in program history.