Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – The Whitworth University volleyball team came up short against Lewis & Clark College, falling 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-13) in Northwest Conference action at Pamplin Sports Center on Saturday evening. The loss snaps a four game win streak for Whitworth, who falls to 12-10 overall, 6-4 in the Northwest Conference. Lewis & Clark improves to 5-11 on the season, with a 4-6 record in NWC action.
"Lewis & Clark played us really tough," Whitworth head coach Kati Bodecker said. "We didn't come out strong. We fought hard, as we always do, but played inconsistent tonight."
The Pirates struggled to find an offensive rhythm early, hitting just .045 in the opening set with 11 attack errors. Lewis & Clark jumped out to a 5-0 lead before senior Kristine Kardell hit a kill to get the Pirates on the board. The Pioneers scored the next three points, forcing a Whitworth timeout. Senior Jalana White's kill out of the timeout sparked a 6-0 Whitworth run, and the Pirates pulled within a point, 12-11, on a service ace from sophomore Izze Ginley. A Whitworth block by senior Briauna Stadeli and junior Tori LaBrie gave the Pirates a 19-18 lead, but too many Whitworth errors gave Lewis & Clark the set advantage.
Sophomore Maddye Dinsmore served up back-to-back aces in the second set to give Whitworth a 9-8 lead, but the teams continued to trade leads until late in the set. The Pirates closed the set with a 6-3 run, capped off by a Jalana White kill for the set victory.
Whitworth opened the third set with a 5-0 run that featured kills from Jalana White and an ace from sophomore Nicole Leonard. Whitworth controlled the set, not allowing the Pioneers to score more than three points in a row in the set. The Pirates cruised to a 25-17 set victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Kills from Kristine Kardell and Tori LaBrie put Whitworth up 12-8 in the fourth set, but Lewis & Clark responded with a 4-0 run to knot the score 12-12. The Pioneers hung with the Piratese before consecutive kills from Tessa Belanger gave Lewis & Clark a 21-19 lead. Brigitte Russo's kill for Lewis & Clark tied the match 2-2 and forced a decisive fifth set.
The Pioneers opened the fifth set with back-to-back kills, but Whitworth answered with an 8-2 run on kills from Tori La Brie and Jalana White and an ace from senior Anna Buck to lead 8-4. Lewis & Clark answered with 4-0 run to tie it 8-8. Whitworth could not hold off the Pioneers and Kelsie Dorpat served up an ace to give Lewis & Clark the match victory.
"We gave Lewis & Clark hope and they used it. We missed too many serves and struggled with our passing and defense," Bodecker said.
Jalana White led the Pirates on offense with a match-high 21 kills. Nicole Leonard recorded 14 kills, while Kristine Kardell had 10 kills for Whitworth. Maddye Dinsmore had 24 digs and 52 assists, while senior Whitney Santos had 22 digs. Briauna Stadeli had seven blocks on the night. Dinsmore, Leonard and Stadeli each served up two aces for Whitworth.
Brigitte Russo led the Pioneers with 18 kills, while Kataleya Milan recorded 14 kills and 20 digs. Alexe Navarro had 36 digs for the Pioneers, while Tessa Belanger had five blocks. Kelsie Dorpat had 47 assists and two aces for Lewis & Clark.
Whitworth returns to Spokane to host George Fox at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, October 25th and Pacific (Ore.) at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 26th.
