PARKLAND, Wash. – Whitworth University claimed the 2016 Northwest Conference championship in emphatic fashion with a 3-1 victory at second-place Pacific Lutheran on Saturday night in Olson Auditorium.

The Pirates improved to 19-5 overall and 13-1 in the NWC with the 18-25, 28-26, 25-13, 25-22 victory.  They won their third straight conference championship in volleyball and their eighth since 2001.   PLU (12-10 overall, 10-4 NWC), which had moved into second place in the standings with five straight wins, dropped to three games behind the Bucs with only two matches left in the regular season.

Emiko Kahler and Cassandra Mendoza had 18 kills each for Whitworth, while Lauren Budde finished with 13 kills.  Erin White dished 54 assists and also led the team with 19 digs.  The Pirates finished with 67 kills, the second-most this season and more than in any other four-set match. 

Fueled by an exuberant home crowd, the Lutes rolled to a 25-18 win in the opening set.  Perhaps feeling the pressure, Whitworth hit only .077 in the frame and had almost as many errors (9) as kills (12).

The turning point of the entire match may have come at the end of the second set.  PLU led 23-22 and again at 26-25 and was serving at set-point.  But the Pirates got the final three points of the set to pull out the win.  Kahler and Mendoza had had a kill in the final run, which evened the match at 1-1.

The Pirates used that momentum to roll to an easy 25-13 win in the third set.  Whitworth pounded 18 kills against only six errors in 34 attacks for a team hitting percentage of .353. Leading 6-5, the Bucs used a 9-2 run to open a 15-7 advantage.

PLU had a good chance to send the match to a fifth set when White's attack error gave the Lutes a 17-10 lead in the fourth stanza.  But Whitworth used a 13-2 run to move into match point at 24-19.  The Pirates survived three straight PLU points to win it on a final Lute attack error.

McKenna Ventura led PLU with ten kills and was the only Lute player in double figures.  McKenzie Harris was in on six of the team's ten blocks.

Whitworth's third straight conference title is remarkable in the fact that the Pirates graduated five starters after the 2015 season, including the program's all-time leader in assists (Maddye Dinsmore) and a First Team All-NWC hitter (Nicole Leonard). 

Whitworth will close out the regular season with two matches next week.  The Bucs will play at Whitman on Wednesday night before hosting Lewis & Clark College on Saturday night.  Brenna Bruil and Haley Vick, the only two seniors on the roster, will be recognized prior to the start of next Saturday's match.