SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth hit a season-high .446 to send the volleyball senior class off in style on Saturday night. The Pirates swept visiting Lewis & Clark in the final regular season home match.
Whitworth (18-6 overall, 12-2 Northwest Conference) defeated the Pioneers (0-21, 0-14) 25-18, 25-10, 25-14 with three players hitting above .500 in the contest.
The first set was the closest of the match, despite the fact that the Pirates ran out to a 7-0 lead. But L&C fought back to tie the set 9-9 on Ruby Kuerschner's service ace. The Pioneers never took a lead, but were still within 19-17 when the Bucs closed on a 6-1 run. Lauren Kremer's ace ended the game and she led the team with three kills in the set.
Whitworth ran out to an 11-3 lead to start the second set, including two kills each from Amblessed Okemgbo and Lindsey Short. The Pirates continued to pull away, winning the game on a kill from Alyssa Baird. Whitworth hit .500 in the second set and Baird had five kills in six attacks.
The first half of the third set was competitive. Daphne Ibrao's ace pulled L&C into a 10-10 tie. The Pirates answered with a 5-1 run, going up 15-11 on Josephine Thompson's ace. Whitworth continued to pull away and scored the final seven points of the match, including two more kills from Okemgbo. The Bucs hit .526 in the third game and Okemgbo had five kills in five attacks.
Kremer led the team with 11.5 points. She had seven kills in nine attacks (.778) and added three aces, a solo block and one block assist. Okemgbo had 10 kills and hit .533, while Baird finished with nine kills and hit .667. Setters Josephine Thompson (14 assists) and Mya Rogriguez (10 assists) directed the potent offensive attack. Rachel Cram had nine digs as the starting libero.
Cram, Okemgbo, Rodriguez and Thompson were honored prior to the match as the Pirate senior class of 2025-26.
Kaitlyn Jensen led L&C with 12 points on nine kills and three aces.
Whitworth is one game behind Puget Sound in the NWC standings and the Pirates will travel to play at UPS in their next match on Friday, November 7th.
