WICHITA, Kan. -- The Evergreen State College battled Peru State College and Friends University on Friday, Aug. 21, as the Geoducks opened the 2026 season with the first day of the Friends Invitational. In Evergreen's first match, Peru State edged the Geoducks 25-22 in each of the first two sets before claiming the third set 25-17 for a 3-0 win. Against Friends in the second match, Evergreen prevailed in the first set 25-22, before the Falcons rallied for a 3-1 win by taking the next three sets 25-11, 25-21, 25-23.
Peru State 3, Evergreen 0
Against Peru State,
Sophia Scroggins (Sr., OH) led the Geoducks with 10 kills and eight digs.
Zofia Formella (Jr., MB/OH) and Analise Orlowski (Fr., MB) each added 10 kills. Owloswki had just one attacking error and hit .333. Also for Evergreen,
Jaci Yamada (So., DS/L) supplied seven digs, while setters
Jayden Vaimaona (Sr.) and
Riley Mangan (Jr.) each registered nine assists
Eden Moore topped the Bobcats with 12 kills and hit .354. Braelyn Braithwaite tacked on 17 digs, while Shealie Wiebers produced eight kills and eight digs. Teodora Bulatovic was credited with 16 assists, and Sami Chesley earned 12 assists.
Evergreen fell behind 7-3 in the first set following a service ace by Chelsey but used a 7-4 run to pull within 11-10 on a kill by Scroggins. The Geoducks were within a single point two more times before tying the score at 14-14 with a kill by Formella. The Bobcats tallied the next two points for a 16-14 lead. Evergreen moved back within a single point five times during the rest of the set, including 23-22 after
Paron Holmes (Jr., DS/L) earned a service ace for the Geoducks. Peru State added the next two points to win the set 25-22.
In the second set, Evergreen took a 4-2 lead on a solo block by
Mikayla Kelly (Grad., MB/OPP). The Bobcats countered with a 14-6 run to grab a 16-10 advantage on a block by Chancie Deaton. Peru State also led 20-13 before the Geoducks surged back within 23-22 on a service ace by Vaimaona to complete a 9-3 run. Kills by Deaton and Moore allowed the Bobcats to claim their second 25-22 win.
The Bobcats owned a slim 10-9 lead in the third set following a service ace by Vaimaona. Peru State answered with an 8-2 scoring streak to grab an 18-11 edge. The Bobcats eventually took the set 25-17.
Friends 3, Evergreen 1
Scroggins and Formella each supplied the Geoducks with nine kills against Friends. Orlowski tacked on seven kills while finishing with a .333 hitting percentage for the second match in a row. Yamada led Evergreen with 17 digs, while Formella added 12 and Scroggins contributed 11. Vaimaona accumulated 15 assists and Mangan recorded 12 assists. The Geoducks achieved six block solos and six block assists for 9.0 team total blocks. Kelly led the team with three block solos and two block assists.
Gabbie Taylor of Friends topped all players with 19 kills. She also earned 15 digs. Haley Ziser topped the Falcons with 18 digs, while Sofia Mekelburg registered 24 assists.
Evergreen won the first set 25-22 after rallying from early deficits of 3-0 and 5-3. Later, the Geoducks broke an 8-8 tie with a 7-3 run to latch onto a 15-11 advantage. The run ended with back-to-back kills by Formella and Kelly. Friends scored the next four points to force a tie at 15-15. The Geoducks went on a 6-2 surge to take a 2-17 lead and held off the Falcons for a 25-22 victory.
Friends claimed an 11-2 lead after 13 rallies in the second set and remained in front for a 25-11 win. The third set featured four lead changes. After trailing 9-7, Evergreen went on a 7-3 run to grab a 16-12 edge following back-to-back service aces by Orlowski. The Falcons took an 18-17 lead several points later on an attacking error by the Geoducks and also led 22-19. Two points later, the Geoducks were within 22-21 on a kill by Orlowski. Friends tallied the next three points to win the set 25-21.
The fourth set included 10 ties and six lead changes. Evergreen led 6-3 on a kill by Scroggins. A bit later, Friends tied the score at 10-10 with a kill by Natalie Castillo. The final tie of the match occurred at 21-21 following a serving error by Mekelburg of Friends. The Falcons countered with kills from Taylor and Castillo before Evergreen moved within 23-22 on a solo block by Kelly. Each team committed an attacking error before Castillo registered a kill to provide Friends with a 25-23 win.
Up Next for Evergreen
The Geoducks will conclude the Friends Invitational with two matches on Saturday, Aug. 22. Evergreen will take on Oklahoma Panhandle State University at 10 a.m. CDT / 8 a.m. PDT, before battling MidAmerica Nazarene University at 2 p.m. CDT / 12 p.m. PDT.
