SPOKANE, Wash. – Cassandra Mendoza and Nicole Leonard combined for 29 kills to help Whitworth hold off a strong challenge from visiting Willamette 3-1 in a Northwest Conference volleyball match on Friday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

The Pirates won 25-14, 25-20, 19-25, 25-23 to improve to 18-5 overall and 11-2 in the NWC.  Whitworth has won 11 consecutive NWC matches and remains tied atop the conference standings with Pacific Lutheran.

The Bearcats (11-11 overall, 6-7 NWC) were out of sorts in the opening set.  They committed nine errors and hit -0.056 as a team.  The Pirates pulled away from a 10-8 lead with an 8-0 run that included three kills and a block from Mendoza.  A final attack error by Willamette ended the set at 25-14 in Whitworth's favor.

Willamette regrouped and jumped ahead 7-4 in the early going of the second set, but the Pirates used an 11-4 run to take a 15-11 lead on a kill by Shawna Korshavn.  Whitworth appeared on the way to an easy win in the second set, leading 24-17.  But the Bearcats used a quick 3-0 run to get within 24-20 before the Bucs closed out the set on another kill by Mendoza.  Whitworth hit .371 in the second set with 16 kills.

"We were strong in the opening two sets, passing and defending well," said Pirate head coach Kati Bodecker.

Willamette put together its best set of the match coming out of the break.  The Bearcats hit .357 as a team with 19 kills.  With the set tied at 11, Willamette used a 5-1 spurt to grab a lead it would not relinquish.  Alexa Dowdell ended the set with a kill, her eighth of the frame.

"Willamette made a lineup change in the third set and we didn't respond well," Bodecker said. "We weren't getting our hands over the net and made it tough on our defense."

Whitworth grabbed a 17-12 lead in the fourth set on a kill by Leonard and appeared close to finishing the match when Mendoza's final kill made the score 23-19.  But Willamette scored three straight, including an ace by Alexa Becker, to claw within 23-22.  Korshavn finally ended the match for the Bucs.

"Even though we struggled with our blocking toward the end of the match, we found a way to score points," Bodecker said. "I was proud of our ability to push through and find a way to win."

Mendoza led the Pirates with 15 kills, while Leonard had 14 kills and 14 digs.  Brenna Bruil added 10 kills and five blocks.  Maddye Dinsmore dished 46 assists, served four aces and dug 12 attacks.  Mallorie Schoesler led the Pirates with 25 digs.

Dowdell tied for match-high honors with Mendoza and teammate Sarah Fincher with 15 kills.  Taylor Lum was in on three blocks and Peyton Wahl led all players with 27 digs.

Whitworth plays its final home match of the 2014 season on Saturday night when Linfield visits the Fieldhouse.