LEWISTON, Idaho – Emiko Kahler drilled 18 kills to lead visiting Whitworth to a 25-19, 25-21, 14-25, 25-19 win over 25th-ranked Lewis-Clark State College in a non-conference volleyball match on Tuesday night.

The Pirates claimed their fifth consecutive victory to improve to 8-3.  The Warriors dropped to 7-4.

Kahler's kill total is a career high for the first-year outside hitter.  She hit .310 in the match and also came up with ten digs.  Erin White dished 43 assists and Taylor Wicht had 18 digs, as Whitworth won without recording a single team block.  Corinne Bell, Brenna Bruil and Lauren Budde all had seven kills each for the Bucs.

LCSC helped the Pirates' cause by committing nine service errors and 12 general ball-handling errors.  NAIA All-American Kennadie Clute had 11 kills while Stephanie Ovitz added ten kills for the Warriors.

Whitworth used an early 7-1 run to take a 13-6 lead in the first set.  LCSC pulled to within 16-14 before the Pirates pulled away again late to win on a kill by Bruil.  Whitworth hit .310 in the opening stanza.

The Bucs kept the momentum into the second set, pulling ahead 21-13 after a kill by Kahler.  The Warriors rallied to within 23-21 before Whitworth got kills from Kahler and Bell to close out the frame.

LCSC never trailed in the third set.  The Warriors hit .300 while the Pirates were held to a -0.067 hitting percentage. 

But Whitworth rebounded to win the see-saw fourth set.  Trailing 11-10, the Pirates used a quick 6-1 run to grab the final lead of the match.  Whitworth got the final winning point on an LCSC service error.

The Pirates will return to action this weekend with Northwest Conference contests at Linfield and Willamette.