SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University volleyball team used 45 kills and a .288 hitting percentage to open the Whit Classic with a 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-19) win over Whitman College in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Whitworth (2-3) started off the weekend with a kill from senior Kristine Kardell to take an early 1-0 lead in the first set. From there, the Bucs did not look back. Scoring the first four points, Whitworth never trailed in the set. Whitman (1-5) was able to make it a close set later on, pulling within one point on two occasions. At 17-16, Whitworth used two kills from sophomore Nicole Leonard and one from Kardell to push out a lead. Tied 24-24, senior Jalana White ended the set with back-to-back kills to give Whitworth the 26-24 win.

The second set saw the Pirates down for the opening action, but after a 15-15 tie, Whitworth used back-to-back kills from senior Whitney Santos and freshman Brenna Bruil to take a two point lead. Despite trading kills with Whitman, the Pirates were able to extend the lead with kills from junior Katie Adams, Kardell and Leonard before Kardell ended the set with a kill to give Whitworth the 25-18 victory.

Kardell picked up where she left off in the third set, giving Whitworth the first point on an opening kill and then sophomore Maddye Dinsmore gave Whitworth a 2-0 lead by serving up an ace. Whitman did not give Whitworth an easy set, as the Missionaries kept within a point for most of the set. Whitworth was able to put some distance between the teams on back-to-back kills by Nicole Leonard and junior Tori LaBrie. LaBrie followed a Whitman attack error with another kill to put the Bucs up 14-11. The Missionaries fought back, tying the set at 18. Whitworth took advantage of four straight Whitman attack errors and ended the final set with back-to-back kills from White.

The Bucs hit .262 with 16 kills in the opening set, .333 with 14 kills in the second set and .281 with 15 kills in the third set. Whitman hit .140 for the match, with a -.045 in the third set.

Kristine Kardell led the Pirates with 15 kills and a .684 hitting percentage. Jalana White had 11 kills while Nicole Leonard had nine. Maddye Dinsmore and Whitney Santos each served up two aces for the Bucs.

Shae Kanakaole led the Missionaries with seven kills, while Jillian Davis had eight kills. Hannah Linsenmayer had 10 digs and served up the lone ace for Whitman.

Whitworth returns to action against No. 19 St. Benedict at 5:00 pm on Friday.