SALEM, Ore. – The Whitworth University volleyball team battled back in the fifth set to defeat Willamette University 3-2 (25-23, 25-19, 18-25, 23-25, 18-16) in Northwest Conference action in Cone Field House on Friday evening. Extending its conference winning streak to three games, Whitworth improves to 12-9 on the season, with a 6-3 record in the NWC. Willamette falls to 6-12 overall, 2-7 in NWC action.

"Willamette played hard and blocked really well," Whitworth head coach Kati Bodecker said. "They challenged our offense. We battled through some struggles tonight but somehow found a way to win."

After falling behind 5-1 in the opening set, senior Kristine Kardell hit a kill that sparked a 5-0 run for the Pirates. Junior Tori LaBrie knocked down a pass from sophomore Maddye Dinsmore to give Whitworth a 6-5 lead. The teams traded points before Willamette hit back-to-back kills to take an 18-15 lead, forcing a Whitworth timeout. Seniors Jalana White and Briauna Stadeli came up with kills out of the huddle to tie the set. Whitworth claimed the set on a Willamette attack error.

An ace from Dinsmore gave Whitworth a 2-0 lead in the second set and the Pirates seemed to cruise to the victory. Consecutive kills from Stadeli, sophomore Nicole Leonard and Kardell put Whitworth up 15-7. Kardell put Whitworth up 2-0 in the match with a kill that gave the Pirates the 25-19 set victory.

After a .205 hitting percentage in the first set and a .333 hitting percentage in the second set, the Pirates struggled in the third set, hitting just .088 with eight attack errors, which allowed Willamette to come back and force extra sets. The teams tied the score 11 times and changed leads five times in the fourth set before Carly Hargrave served back-to-back aces to give Willamette the set victory and knot the match 2-2.

Finding themselves down 4-0 in the fifth set, Whitworth used kills from Leonard and White to battle back and tie the set 6-6. The Pirates took their first lead in the set when Kardell hit a kill that gave Whitworth a 16-15 lead. Sarah Fincher pulled Willamette even with a kill, but Dinsmore and Leonard closed out the night with kills to give Whitworth the victory.

"All week we had been working on our mental toughness and fighting through touch situations. I was happy to see us compete and fight when we needed to. The last set came down to heart and guts and we proved that we have that," Bodecker said.

Nicole Leonard led a trio of Pirates with double figure kills, finishing the night with a season-high 20 kills and 17 digs.  Jalana White added 19 kills, while Kristine Kardell recorded 13 kills. Maddye Dinsmore passed out 62 assists, while serving up two aces. Senior Whitney Santos finished the match with 30 digs and an ace, while senior Anna Buck had 20 digs and an ace for the Pirates.

Sarah Fincher led the Bearcats with 16 kills and 13 digs. Shannon Waltz and Kirsten Brehmer joined Fincher with double figure kills, posting 15 and 14 kills, respectively. Alida Holt led Willamette with 21 digs, while Emily Compton had 49 assists. Compton and Carly Hargrave each served up a match-high four aces.

Whitworth travels to Portland for a Northwest Conference match at Lewis & Clark College at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 19, while Willamette hosts Whitman College at 5:00 p.m. on October 19.