SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth advanced to the championship of the 2025 Northwest Conference volleyball tournament with a hard-fought 3-1 win over 4th-seeded Willamette on Friday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Pirates (21-6) will take on third-seeded Pacific Lutheran after defeating the Bearcats 26-24, 29-27, 23-25, 25-6. Willamette ends its season at 12-12.
None of the first three sets looked like a #1 vs. #4 contest. Whitworth jumped out to a 17-9 lead in the first set after a kill from Alyssa Baird. The Bearcats chipped away at the deficit and tied the set 24-24 on Baird's attack error. Lauren Kremer answered with her own kill and the set ended on a Bearcats' error. Kremer had seven kills and hit .875 in the opening game, while Emalia Freitas had five kills and hit .833 for Willamette.
The Pirates jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the second set after consecutive kills by Kremer. The Bearcats then reeled off a 14-3 run to go up 17-11 on a kill from Katey Cramer. It was Whitworth's turn to chip away before tying the set 23-23 on Lindsey Short's kill. Willamette served for the match at 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25 but could not put it away. Baird's kill put the Bucs ahead 28-27 and a Bearcat error ended it. Kremer had four more kills for Whitworth and 6.5 points in the game. Cramer had four for Willamette.
The third set featured nine ties and four lead changes. The Bearcats led 11-8 after Cramer's kill before Whitworth tied it 12-12 on a kill by Baird. The Pirates led 20-19 looking to finish out the match, but the Bearcats closed on a 6-3 run to keep the contest alive. Chelsea Velez had the set-winning kill and Caroline Jameson had five kills in the game for Willamette.
The loss in the third set seemed to light a fire under the Pirates, who dominated the final game. Whitworth never trailed, opening leads of 6-0 and 14-4 before closing it out 25-6. The Pirates hit .393 in the game while holding Willamette to -.105. Short had four blocks for Whitworth while Bryanna Dodson served three aces.
Four players reached double figures in points and kills for the Pirates. Kremer led the way with 17.5 points on 14 kills (.591 hitting percentage), three aces and one block assist. Short had 12 kills and two block assists, while Baird and Amblessed Okemgbo finished with 11 kills apiece. Josephine Thompson dished 21 assists and served two aces, while Mya Rodriguez had 14 assists. Dodson finished with four aces and 10 digs.
Jameson led Willamette with 13.5 points on 11 kills and five block assists. Jameson had a dozen kills and Lexie Scott had 11. Leina Chu finished with 31 assists.
Pacific Lutheran 3, Puget Sound 2
The third-seeded Lutes knocked off NWC co-champion and #2-seeded Puget Sound 26-24, 22-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-12.
Alexis Eggert dominated the middle for the Lutes (15-9) with 22.0 points including 19 kills and four blocks (two solo, two assists). Shaela Allen-Greggs added 16 kills for PLU.
NWC Player of the Year Maddie Badger had a dozen kills for the Loggers (18-8), as did Erin Fagan.
Whitworth and PLU will play for the NWC Tournament Championship for the second year in a row.
