McMINNVILLE, Ore. – The Whitworth Pirates used strong serving and defense to steamroll a Northwest Conference opponent for the second straight match on Friday night, sweeping Linfield University 3-0 on the road at Ted Wilson Gym.

Whitworth improved to 12-2 overall and 4-0 in the NWC after posting nine team blocks and nine aces for 18 of their 48 points on the way to a 25-16, 25-15, 25-14 victory.  The Wildcats dropped to 3-7, 0-5 after hitting -0.31 in the contest.

The opening set featured seven ties and three lead changes and Linfield led 13-11 after a kill by Araeya Watanabe.  The Pirates outscored the Wildcats 14-3 the rest of the way, including three blocks.  Ella Jimenez had an ace and two kills in the run.

Linfield once again took an early lead in the second set, going ahead 7-3 on another kill by Watanabe.  Once again, Whitworth took control with a dominating run, outscoring the Wildcats 7-0 to go ahead 10-7 on Megan Lange's service ace.  Lauren Kremer and Lindsey Short combined on consecutive blocks during the run.  The Bucs used another 7-0 run to extend a 13-11 lead into a 20-11 advantage and won the set on Rachel Cram's service ace.

The final set was all Pirates after Whitworth opened a 6-1 lead and never trailed.  The Pirates hit .250 in the game and Jimenez had four of her kills, including one that gave Whitworth a 22-10 lead. 

Jimenez led Whitworth with 14.0 points on nine kills (.304) and five aces – tying a career high for aces.  Cassidy Franklin had five block assists, while Kremer and Short had four apiece, to lead the Bucs at the net defensively.  Lange (13 assists) and Josephine Thompson (12) combined for 25 of Whitworth's 28 assists.  Taylor Miche was all over the court with 19 digs.

Watanabe led Linfield with five kills, while Journey DePonte had four.  The Wildcats had a negative hitting percentage after their total attack errors (24) surpassed their kill totals (21).

Whitworth will return home to host Willamette and Lewis & Clark next Friday and Saturday.