SPOKANE, Wash. – Visiting Pacific Lutheran rallied to win the opening set and used that momentum to come away with a 3-1 win over Whitworth in a battle of Northwest Conference volleyball powers on Saturday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Either Whitworth or PLU have won the NWC title 20 times since 2001.  The Lutes improved to 7-7 overall and remain the only unbeaten team in the conference (6-0) with the 26-24, 25-19, 28-30, 25-22 win.  The Pirates dropped to 7-7, 4-2.

In a first set that featured nine ties and three lead changes, Whitworth took a 24-21 lead on a PLU attack error.  The Lutes responded with five straight points to steal a win in the set.  Baylee Johnson had three straight kills for the final three points.  She had four kills in the set for the Lutes, while Amblessed Okemgbo and Kaity Barr had four each for the Pirates.

In the second set, PLU would surge ahead and Whitworth would surge back.  There were five ties, the final coming at 16-16 after a block by the Pirate pair of Abigail Hudson and Barr.  The Lutes had one more surge, pulling out to a 20-16 lead on a Whitworth attack error.  They won the set on another Pirate error.  Johnson had three more kills in the frame for PLU, while Cassidy Franklin had four for the Bucs.

The third set was the tightest of the contest as Whitworth had to fight off three match points.  There were 16 ties and ten lead changes along the way.  The Pirates took a 24-22 lead on Logan Spencer's kill, but, much like the first set, PLU went on a run and took a 25-24 lead on a kill from Haley Goto.  PLU had match-point again at 27-26 and 28-27 before Whitworth scored three straight, winning on a kill from Franklin.  Goto had five kills in the frame for the Lutes while Spencer had three for the Bucs.

Whitworth appeared poised to push the match to the distance, taking a 9-4 lead early in the fourth set.  PLU rallied to pull into a 16-16 tie and there would be six more ties down the stretch.  The Pirates took a 20-18 lead on a Lute attack error, but PLU outscored Whitworth 7-2 the rest of the way, winning on a kill from Claire Hindman.  Johnson had six kills in the fourth set, while Okemgbo had four for the Bucs.

Franklin led Whitworth with 14 points on 10 kills, two solo blocks and four block assists.  Barr had 11.5 points with eight kills, one solo block and five block assists, while Okemgbo had 11 points on 10 kills and a solo block.  Mya Rodriguez (22) and Josephine Thompson (18) combined for 40 assists and Taylor Miche finished with 28 digs.

Johnson had a match-high 13 kills for PLU and Elle Thomas added a dozen.  Olivia Evaro dished 50 assists and Halle Hatzler, the reigning NWC Player of the Year as a libero, netted 43 digs.

Whitworth will try to bounce back when the Pirates host Whitman College on Wednesday night.