SALEM, Ore. – Whitworth picked up its first Northwest Conference volleyball road win with a 25-13, 21-25, 25-17, 25-20 victory at Willamette on Friday night.

The Pirates improved to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in the NWC with their third consecutive win.  The Bearcats dropped to 7-7, 2-3.  Brenna Bruil had 14 kills and hit .278 for Whitworth. 

The teams split the opening two sets.  The Pirates rolled through the first set after jumping to quick leads of 8-2, 16-5 and 20-8.  But Willamette responded to win the second set.  After the Bearcats used an early 5-0 run to grab a 7-5 lead, they would not trail again.

"Willamette always plays us tough and it was no different tonight," said Whitworth head coach Kati Bodecker.  "I thought we picked up our defensive awareness and intensity after losing the second set."

The Bearcats carried momentum into the early portion of the third set, grabbing a 7-2 lead after a kill by Sarah Fincher.  But Whitworth fought back to tie the set 10-10 on a kill by Haley Vick and went up 12-10 on back to back kills by Cassandra Mendoza.  Leading 18-15, the Pirates closed out the set on a 7-2 run.

Whitworth jumped out to a 12-5 lead in the fourth set after another kill by Vick.  But Willamette fought back to tie the set 18-18.  The Pirates then used another 7-2 run to claim the win.

"We struggled behind the serving line at times and that sometimes disrupted our rhythm," Bodecker said. "But we kept them in long rallies and wore them down."

Bruil led four Pirates in double figures in kills.  Mendoza finished with a dozen, while Vick and Nicole Leonard had 11 apiece.  Bruil also led the way with three service aces.  Leonard led all players with 31 digs and Maddye Dinsmore had 50 assists.

Fincher and Alexa Dowdell had nine kills each to lead Willamette.  The Bearcats did outblock the Pirates, led by Taylor Gee's 10 block assists.

Whitworth will conclude this weekend's trip to Oregon with a match at Linfield on Saturday evening at 5:00 pm.