Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – Whitworth completed its drive to a Northwest Conference volleyball title by sweeping Lewis & Clark 25-12, 25-16, 25-22 on Saturday night.
The Pirates won their 14th NWC match in a row to finish the regular season 21-5 overall and 14-2 in the NWC. Whitworth shares the conference title with Pacific Lutheran (21-4, 14-2), but the Pirates gain the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament based on tiebreakers.
Whitworth advances to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time since 2001. The Pirates will find out where and when they open the tournament when the field is announced on Monday morning.
"I am so proud of our team," said head coach Kati Bodecker. "This journey really started last spring in the off season when the team came in eager and ready to work. They set the goal at the beginning of the season to be NWC champs. We knew it would be tough, but we believed we had the talent and competiveness toughness to get us there. It is so awesome to see them achieve their goal. They deserve it."
Cassandra Mendoza led Whitworth with 12 kills, while Brenna Bruil added nine and Nicole Leonard and Shawna Korshavn had eight apiece. Whitworth hit .212 as a team. Mallorie Schoesler led the Pirates with 19 digs and Maddye Dinsmore had 36 assists and three service aces.
Whitworth jumped to a quick 9-3 lead in the opening set and extended it to 16-6 on a kill by Mendoza, forcing an L&C timeout. The Bucs continued to add on, going up 21-7 after three straight kills from Dinsmore. Korshavn's kill ended it for the Pirates.
Whitworth led the second set 8-7 before an 8-1 run gave the Bucs some breathing room at 16-8. The Pirates continued to pull away and went up 2-0 in sets after Mendoza's kill decided the frame.
Whitworth had to rally to win the third set when Kateleya Milan's service ace gave L&C an 18-15 lead. But the Pirates responded with an 8-1 run to go ahead 23-19 after a kill by Brenna Bruil. After the Pioneers closed to within 23-22, Whitworth ended it with back to back kills from Bruil and Mendoza.
Milan led L&C with eight kills as the Pioneers hit only .063 as a team. Alexe Navarro had a game-high 30 digs.
Whitworth's tiebreaker advantage over PLU is based on head-to-head sets won. Each team won on its own home floor. But the Pirates fell 3-2 at PLU and swept the Lutes 3-0 in Spokane, gaining a 5-3 edge in head-to-head sets.
After dropping their first two matches of the NWC schedule, the Bucs have run off 14 consecutive league victories. It is the longest conference winning streak in school history.
