Box Score McMinnville, Ore. – Shawna Korshavn and Nicole Leonard had nine kills each to lead visiting Whitworth to a 25-23, 25-20, 25-16 win at Linfield in Northwest Conference volleyball action on Saturday night.
The Pirates got stronger as the match went on to improve to 11-4 overall and 4-2 in the NWC with their fourth straight victory. The Wildcats fell to 5-6, 4-2.
Trailing 23-22 late in the opening set, Whitworth scored three straight points to claim that frame. Korshavn's kill started the run and then the Bucs benefited from consecutive Linfield attack errors.
Whitworth never trailed in the second set, though it was tied 9-9 following a Pirate attack error. But the Bucs answered with four straight points to grab momentum. After Linfield pulled back within 18-17, Whitworth closed the set on a 7-3 run, including a couple of kills from Brenna Bruil.
The Pirates also used a strong finish in the third and final set. Linfield got within 16-13 on a kill by Jamie Talbo. But Whitworth outscored the Wildcats 9-3 the rest of the way, sparked by back-to-back service aces from Malorie Schoesler.
"It was a high energy match with long rallies," said Pirate head coach Kati Bodecker. "Linfield was so tough defensively and made us work for every point. I thought we played aggressively, stayed composed and worked well together as a team."
Whitworth hit .181 as a team with only 12 errors in 155 total attacks. Bruil added seven kills and three block assists for the Bucs, while Schoesler led the team with 22 digs. Maddye Dinsmore had 31 assists.
Molly McTaggart had a match-high 11 kills for Linfield, but the Wildcats hit only .107 in the contest. No other Linfield player had more than six kills. Courtney Uyeda led all players with 25 digs.
The long rallied led to each team finishing with 87 digs in the match.
Whitworth heads to Lewis-Clark State on Wednesday night for its final non-conference match of the season. Then the Pirates welcome George Fox (Friday) and Lewis & Clark (Saturday) next weekend for a pair of NWC matches.
