SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Whitworth volleyball team got off to a strong start to the 2021 season with a pair of victories on Friday at the Trinity Fall Classic.

The Pirates defeated Hendrix (Ark.) 3-1 and Concordia (Texas) 3-0 to start the year 2-0.  Whitworth will take on Texas Lutheran (2-0) and #1-ranked Trinity (2-0) on Saturday.

Whitworth dropped the opening set, but rallied to beat Hendrix 19-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 behind efficient hitting from Abby Wolverton and Kaity Barr.  The Warriors won the opening set 25-19, hitting .294 while holding the Pirates to 0.097.  But Whitworth pulled out close sets in the second and third stanzas.  The fourth was close as well until the Bucs finished on a 9-3 run.  The Pirates ended the match with a .177 team hitting percentage while the Warriors hit .101.

Wolverton led Whitworth with 13 kills and hit .440, while Barr had 12 kills and hit .526.  Barr also had two solo blocks and three block assists for a team-high 15.5 points.  Madison Lee added ten kills, while Saylor Anderson and Joelle Forbes dished 22 assists apiece.  Lee and Eva Millan had 19 digs each.

No Hendrix player reached double figures in kills.

Whitworth pulled out a 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 victory over Concordia in the second match, thanks to a strong offensive match from Lee.  Lee finished with 11 kills and hit .385.  She added one block and an ace for 13 total points.  Forbes had 16 assists and Anderson added 14 as the Pirates hit .183 as a team, while holding the Tornados to only 0.075.

Sarah Ghormley had a match-high 14 kills for Concordia.