SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Whitworth University volleyball team outlasted Hardin-Simmons University for a 16-25, 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 15-11 victory in Sams Gymnasium at the Trinity National Invitational on Friday. Whitworth improves to 4-6, while Hardin-Simmons falls to 4-5.

The Pirates kept the opening set close early as sophomore Nicole Leonard and senior Briauna Stadeli traded kills with the Cowgirls, but Hardin-Simmons was able to string together a run to push out to a 14-10 lead. Once the Cowgirls were able to distance themselves from the Pirates, Whitworth was unable to close the gap, falling 25-16 in the set.

The second and third sets were much closer, as the teams combined for 11 ties and nine lead changes. Whitworth took advantage of kills from Leonard and senior Jalana White to take an 11-9 lead in the second set and claimed the set 25-21 on a block from Stadeli and White. The third set followed a similar pattern, as the teams traded scoring runs before Whitworth was able to pull away on kills from White and senior Kristine Kardell. Whitworth took the set, 25-19, on a Jalana White kill.

Hardin-Simmons came out in the fourth set with a mission as the Cowgirls jumped out to a 10-4 lead before Whitworth had to use a timeout. Hardin-Simmons had 16 kills on a .256 hitting percentage as the Cowgirls never let Whitworth get into a rhythm and reversed the third set score in their favor, 25-19.

Facing their second fifth set of the day, Whitworth came out on the attack, as Kristine Kardell slammed a set from sophomore Maddye Dinsmore for the opening point. Whitworth was able to get a three point lead, 6-3, before Hardin-Simmons called timeout. The Pirates lost some momentum coming out of the huddle, but bounced back on kills from junior Tori LaBrie and Jalana White and claimed the set and match victories on a Jalana White Kill.

Whitworth had its best hitting percentage in the third set, when the Pirates hit .357 with 12 kills and only two errors. For the match, Whitworth hit .148 and had six team blocks.

Jalana White led the Pirates with 20 kills, nine digs, three blocks and a .278 hitting percentage. Nicole Leonard had 13 kills and 11 digs, while Maddye Dinsmore had 18 digs and 42 assists. White, Dinsmore, Leonard, sophomore Izze Ginley and senior Whitney Santos each had an ace in the match.

The Cowgirls were led by Tori Martinez, who had 20 kills on a .486 hitting percentage. Christine Sas had 15 kills and 13 digs for Hardin-Simmons, while Tucker Smith served up two aces.

Whitworth returns to action at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday when the Pirates face DeSales. Whitworth will wrap up the tournament against host Trinity University at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday.