SPOKANE, Wash. – Nicole Leonard's 19 kills helped Whitworth rally to a 3-2 win over visiting Whitman in a Northwest Conference volleyball match on Wednesday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Ten of Leonard's kills came in the fourth and fifth sets to help the Pirates (8-4 overall, 1-2 NWC) rally from a 2-1 deficit and end a two-match losing skid.  The final set scores were 20-25, 26-24, 18-25, 25-23, 15-9.

"Every team goes through hard times and struggles during a season," said Whitworth head coach Kati Bodecker.  "We are still not playing our best volleyball, but learning to win in spite of that is huge.  It was a big step forward from our match at Puget Sound."

Whitman (5-7, 1-2) might've gotten out of the Fieldhouse with a 3-0 sweep of the Pirates, if not for a remarkable comeback by Whitworth in the second set.  After the Missionaries rolled to a win in the opening set without trailing at any point, they jumped out to leads of 18-11 and 21-14 in the second stanza.  But the Pirates fought back to get within 23-22 after back-to-back Whitman attack errors.  Whitman earned set-point (24-22) with a kill by Kaileah Akker, but Whitworth scored the next four in a row, led by three kills from Karina Lees, to win 26-24.

The Missionaries dominated the third set even more than the first, never trailing and leading by 5-7 points most of the way.

"We still need to develop some leadership out on the court," Bodecker said.  "Since we don't have seniors our players sometimes get caught looking for a teammate to make the key play."

But then Leonard took over for Whitworth and Megan Bafus for Whitman in the fourth set.  The two players seemed to trade important kills as the Pirates jumped to a 20-13 lead.  But Bafus, who had six kills in the fourth set, led the Missionaries back to within 23-22 before Whitworth held on to even the match at two-sets each.

After trading points early in the fifth, Whitworth used a 7-0 run to turn a 3-3 tie into an insurmountable 10-3 advantage.  Leonard had five kills of the Bucs' first ten points. 

"We will continue to improve as we learn to play more carefree," Bodecker concluded.  "We need to learn to take risks on the court without fear of failure or making a mistake.  A match like tonight's can help us overcome that."

Leonard also led the Pirates with 21 digs to share match-high honors with Whitman's Hannah Linsenmayer.  Haley Vick added ten kills and was in on three block assists for the Bucs, while Shawna Korshavn added ten kills off of the bench.  Maddye Dinsmore finished with 55 assists.

Whitman had a huge night at the net defensively, finishing with 15 team blocks.  Natalia Zea was part of eight block assists, while Akker was in on seven blocks.  Shae Kanakaole had 14 kills and Bafus finished with 13 kills.  Anna Dawson had 37 assists.

Whitworth will host Pacific University on Saturday night at 6:00 pm, one night after the Boxers play at Whitman.