PORTLAND, Ore.—After falling in the opener by a 3-1 margin, the Western Oregon University volleyball team responded with a 3-1 victory for a Friday split at the Concordia Labor Day Tournament.

With a pair of two-point losses in the first three individual sets, Western Oregon (1-1) dropped the opener against Cal State Dominguez Hills 25-23, 11-25, 25-23, 25-14. The Wolves wrapped up the day with wins in the final two sets to topple Texas' Lubbock Christian 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 25-20.

WOU will return to action early Saturday morning with a 9:30 a.m. match against Westminster (Utah) in Portland. The team will turn around next week to host a six-team and 12-match DII West Region Showcase in Monmouth, Ore.  

Game 1: CSU Dominguez Hills def. Western Oregon, 3-1
The opening set between the Toros and the Wolves featured 10 ties, the final occurrence with the score resting at 20-20. Outhitting WOU .350 to .174, CSU Dominguez Hills went on to close out the first set on a Rylee Kiger swing.

Not deterred, WOU dominated the action in the second set with a 25-11 spread to knot the match at 1-1. The Wolf defense held the Toros to -.077 in the second and used a nine-point streak to pull away after holding on to a 14-10 lead.

The action in the third replicated the opening set with eight ties taking place in the back-and-forth tilt. This time the Wolves battled back to even the game at 23-23 following a Sydney Blankinship kill. The rally ended there, however, as the Toros recorded back-to-back points with a Bridget Heins kill and forcing an attacking error on the WOU attack.  

With only three attacking errors, CSUDH powered through the finale to close out the win.

WOU senior Alisha Bettinson connected on 18 kills, two shy of the overall match lead held by CSUDH's Tati Yandall. Sierra Stultz added 10 kills for the Wolves while Blankinship chipped in with nine.

Game 2: Western Oregon def. Lubbock Christian, 3-1
After trading wins in the first two sets, WOU remained composed despite several rallies by Lubbock Christian to earn its first win of the season.

Even at 19-19 in the first, WOU notched six of the final seven points to put away the opening game.

The Wolves held a late lead (17-16) in the second as well before a timeout sparked the Lady Chaps with a 9-4 run to even the match.

Lubbock Christian seemed poised to take the third set, establishing a 9-5 lead out of the gate, only to see WOU eventually stake a 20-19 lead on a Blankinship termination. With three attempts at set point, WOU finally walked away with the win via a LCU service error.

With momentum at hand, WOU never trailed in the fourth set before settling for the five-point match-clinching win.

Bettinson led all attackers with 19 kills while teammate Mariella Vandenkooy struck for 11 kills. Five different Wolves reached double figures in digs with Mackenzie Bowen leading the way with a 35-dig performance. With setting duties split, Leila Holt (24 assists) and Maddie Mehciz (18 assists) orchestrated the WOU offense.