SPOKANE, Wash. – Nicole Leonard's career-high 23 kills led Whitworth to a 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 25-18 win over visiting Lewis-Clark State in a non-conference volleyball match on Wednesday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Maddye Dinsmore dished 46 assists and added four aces for the Pirates, who improved to 3-2 this season.  Desire Nelson had a team-high 13 kills for the Warriors, who fell to 3-3.

"We did the little things well tonight," said Whitworth head coach Kati Bodecker. "I thought we served with intention and we were able to take them out of system. I thought we blocked well. We've been working on our blocking in practice because we knew it was something we needed to improve this year."

Leonard had six of her kills in the opening set to help the Pirates rally from a late 23-21 deficit for a 25-23 win. 

The Warriors bounced back to claim the second set 25-23, pulling away from a late 20-20 tie.  Nelson had more than half of her kills (7) in that set.

Whitworth never trailed in the third set, but had to hold on for the win after opening up a 15-6 lead following Haley Vick's kill.  LCSC rallied to within 15-14 after a kill by Kelsey Ross.  But as she did throughout the match, Leonard came up with the timely kill to curb the Warriors' momentum.  Leonard ended the set in the Pirates' favor with back to back kills (25-19).

"I thought my two returning starters, Nicole and Maddye, played outstanding tonight," Bodecker said. "I could sense their determination from the opening point. They boosted our team's confidence through their play out on the court."

After Robyn Schirmer tied the fourth set 10-10 with a kill, Whitworth took control with a 7-1 run, keyed by three more Leonard kills, to go ahead 17-11.  The Bucs did not trail again, winning the set 25-18 on a kill by Shawna Korshavn.

Brenna Bruil added 12 kills and hit .370 in the match for Whitworth.  The Pirates hit .146 as a team and finished with 7.0 total blocks.  No other LCSC player reached double figures and the Warriors hit .136 as a squad, finishing with 10.0 total blocks.

Leonard's previous career-high was 20 kills set last season.

Whitworth returns to action this weekend at the Whit Classic hosted by Whitman College.  The Bucs will NWC-member Lewis & Clark College and Whittier College on Friday, then host Whitman and Mills College on Saturday.  Watch the Whitworth volleyball schedule for live links to this weekend's matches.