SPOKANE, Wash.—Whitworth avoided a major upset after visiting Linfield won the opening set, defeating the Wildcats 17-25, 25-11, 25-17, 25-17 on Friday night in a Northwest Conference volleyball match.
The Pirates move to 16-2 overall and 11-0 in NWC play. The Wildcats fall to 4-13 overall and 0-11 in the NWC.
The Linfield block stifled the Whitworth offense in the first set. Megan Stanek had two block assists, and four different Wildcat players each recorded a block assist in the first frame. Linfield never trailed in the set after pulling away from a 4-4 tie. The Pirates challenged the lead with a four-point run late in the set behind Jaye Hodge kills and Wildcat attack errors, but Reagan Dean finished the set and scored two of the last three points. Whitworth hit a match low .023, and Linfield hit a match best .159.
Whitworth rebounded in the second set, never trailing. Maddie Lee had five kills and two block assists in the set. Cassidy Franklin and Kaity Barr each had a block assist, and Franklin and Abigail Hudson each had two kills. Whitworth hit a match best .500 as a team in the second period. The Wildcats recorded only five total kills compared to the Pirates' 13, and hit a team -.161.
The third frame had four ties and one lead change. Seventeen of the 42 total points were scored on errors, including 15 combined hitting errors. Whitworth committed seven attack errors, and Linfield had eight. The Pirates also had five service aces in the third set alone, with two each from Joelle Forbes and Lee.
The Pirates came up big blocking in the fourth set. Franklin and Logan Spencer each recorded four block assists, and Barr and Lee each had one, bringing the team total to six blocks. Whitworth only hit .056 as a team with ten total kills, but Linfield had six total kills and hit -.194 in the set. The Pirates went on a seven point scoring run near the middle of the set to pull away 13-5, and then went on a six-point run late to go ahead 23-12. Whitworth lost two match points before Franklin ended the match with a kill.
Raelynn Hammock led the Linfield offense with fifteen kills, while Regan Dean had five.
Lee led the Pirate offense with sixteen kills and totaled 19.5 points with two service aces and three block assists. Franklin had seven kills and six block assists for 10 points.
The Pirates host Willamette on Saturday at 6:00 pm, then hit the road next weekend to play Puget Sound on Oct. 29 at 7pm, and Pacific Lutheran on Oct. 30 at 5pm.
