SPOKANE, Wash. – Hitting four of her 14 kills in the fifth set, senior Kristine Kardell helped the Whitworth University volleyball team open Northwest Conference action with a 25-23, 27-25, 17-25, 23-25, 15-12 victory over Willamette University in Whitworth Fieldhouse on Friday. 

Whitworth (7-6, 1-0 NWC) took a 2-0 lead in the match before Willamette (4-6, 0-1 NWC) came back to tie up the match and force a deciding fifth set.

"I'm excited to get our first conference win," Whitworth head coach Kati Bodecker said. "Overall, I was impressed with our (players') fight and the way that they were able to pull together as a team and regain their confidence."

Whitworth used a kill from junior Tori LaBrie to take the lead in the first set. Though Willamette tied the score five times, Whitworth denied the Bearcats from ever taking the lead and used back-to-back kills from Kristine Kardell to take the final lead of the set. In a thrilling second set that featured 13 tied scores and nine lead changes, Whitworth trailed 25-24 before a Willamette ball handling error put the Pirates back in position to take the lead. Senior Jalana White did just that as her kill put the Bucs up 26-25 and Whitworth claimed the set on a Bearcat ball handling error.

Whitworth opened the door in the third set, as the team hit just .026 with 11 attack errors and three service errors. Willamette had just nine kills in the third set, but was able to use Whitworth's errors to its advantage. The Pirates had a better attacking percentage in the fourth set, hitting .116, but had three service aces. The Bearcats 12 team kills on a .156 hitting percentage to to tie the match 2-2.

"We were a little inconsistent in our blocking and we provided them with a lot of free balls that they were able to transition and turn into kills," Bodecker said.

Tori LaBrie opened the fifth set with a kill to put Whitworth up 1-0, but Willamette went on a 4-0 run to take the lead and force a Whitworth timeout. Sophomore Nicole Leonard stopped the Bearcat run with a kill coming out of the break. The Pirates used kills from senior Briauna Stadeli, Jalana White and sophomore Maddye Dinsmore to tie the set 7-7. Trailing 9-8, Whitworth got help from Kristine Kardell, who used back-to-back kills to put the Pirates in front, 10-9. Kardell teamed up with Tori LaBrie for a block to end the set and give Whitworth a conference opening victory.

 Joining Kardell with double digit kills was Jalana White, who had a match-high 20 kills, 15 digs and an ace. Briauna Stadeli had 11 kills, while senior Whitney Santos had a match-high 22 digs. Maddye Dinsmore had 56 assists, 16 digs and a match-high three aces.

Willamette was led by Carly Hargrave who had 12 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. Lizzy Balding had 18 digs and Emily Compton had 46 assists. Hargrave and Compton each had an ace for the Bearcats.

Whitworth returns to action on Saturday when the Pirates host Lewis & Clark College at 6:00 p.m. in Whitworth Fieldhouse.