PORTLAND, Ore. – Visiting Whitworth hit .315 as a team to defeat Lewis & Clark in three sets on Friday night in a Northwest Conference volleyball contest at the Pamplin Center.
The Pirates (14-2 overall, 8-1 NWC) defeated the River Otters (4-13, 1-9) 25-15, 25-14, 25-22 to win their eighth straight game.
Alyssa Baird had 11 kills while hitting .348 in the contest to lead Whitworth offensively. She also had a team-high 11 digs on the defensive end.
The Pirates jumped to a 6-1 lead in the opening set and never trailed. L&C got within 14-10 on a Whitworth attack error, but the Bucs answered with a 6-1 run to pull away. Lindsey Short's kill gave Whitworth a 20-11 lead and Baird's kill ended the set. Baird had five of her kills in the first game.
The Pirates were even sharper in the second set, hitting .370 as a team with 12 kills and only two errors. Whitworth jumped ahead 4-1 and led 7-2 after an ace by Sofie Fox. Bryanna Dodson dominated in the set with six kills, hitting .556.
The third set was the most competitive with 11 ties and six lead changes. L&C went ahead 7-5 before Whitworth used a 7-2 run to go up 12-9 on a kill from Lauren Kremer. The River Otters retied the game 15-15 and the set was tied three more times before Baird's kill made it 20-18 in the Bucs' favor. Kaylee Winterroth's kill ended the match. She had four kills in the third game.
Kremer led Whitworth in scoring with 13.5 points. She had 10 kills, hitting .467, with two aces and three block assists. Fox and Madison Pridon had 16 assists apiece to direct the offensive attack.
Kaitlyn Jensen led L&C with 11.5 points on eight kills, two aces and three block assists.
The Pirates will complete their weekend in Oregon with a match at Linfield on Saturday night. The Wildcats were the last team to defeat Whitworth in the NWC season opener back on September 16th.
