Union-Bulletin

WALLA WALLA - Area volleyball got a head start on football as Whitman College hosted Walla Walla Community College in an exhibition match Thursday evening.

The Warriors ended up with a 25-19, 26-24, 26-24 victory over the Missionaries.

"This was a great way to start our season," WWCC coach Tim Toon said. "Although we made a lot of mistakes, the overall quality of play for the third week of our season was outstanding. We have made huge strides with our serve receive, blocking and defense. We challenged from the service line with very few errors. Our offense looked good at times, but we still have a ways to go before meeting very high performance standards."

Brittany Dominguez had nine kills and three blocks for the Warriors.

"She had some of our most impressive kills of the night," Toon said.

Desiree Nielson recorded seven kills and six blocks in a "great first match of her career," Toon said. "She blocked some balls straight down and made nice contributions to the offense."

Laekynn Culpepper pounded three service aces and 15 digs as she "anchored our back row," and Renee Baumann (seven kills, two aces, nine digs) and Taylor Lancaster (two aces, 12 digs) had notable performances.

"We are asking these two freshmen to jump serve, be primary passers and diggers, and hit the ball hard at the outside position," Toon said. "They performed well."

For Whitman, Jazmin Moledina had nine kills, Taylor Aschenbrenner had 32 assists and 15 digs and Rachel Shober three aces.

WWCC travels to Salem to play at the Chemeketa Invitational today and Saturday.

"The signature characteristic of this team thus far is how hard they are willing to work," Toon said. "All 14 players are committed to each other and committed to getting better. This upcoming tournament will give us a chance to experiment with the lineup and get ready for our tough conference season."