SPOKANE, Wash. – Visiting Puget Sound came back from down two sets to defeat Whitworth in a five-set thriller, 20-18 in the fifth set, on Friday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse to force a tie atop the Northwest Conference volleyball standings.
The Loggers (16-7 overall, 13-2 NWC) defeated the Pirates (19-3, 13-2) 20-25, 14-25, 25-17, 25-23, 20-18 to knot the standings with one match to play for each team. If both win their regular season finale on Saturday, they will be co-champions just as they were two seasons ago. In that case Whitworth would hold the tiebreaker and the right to host the NWC Tournament, based on head-to-head results in sets since the Pirates defeated Puget Sound 3-1 in Tacoma a month ago.
Whitworth will host Pacific Lutheran on Saturday night while Puget Sound plays at Whitman.
The Loggers came out on fire, taking a 6-1 lead in the opening set. Whitworth chipped away and eventually tied the set 14-14 and took its first lead at 16-15 on a Logger attack error. The set was tied a final time at 18-18 before the Pirates closed on a 7-2 run, getting the winning point on a kill from Lauren Kremer. The Bucs hit .359 in the game with only four errors.
Whitworth was even more offensively efficient in the second set. The Pirates led from the start and used a 6-1 run to go ahead 16-8. Bryanna Dodson's ace ended the set for the Bucs, who posted a blistering .412 attack percentage with only one error. Lindsey Short and Kaylee Winterroth each had four kills for Whitworth.
Puget Sound began the turnaround by dominating the third set with their block. The Loggers scored the game's final four points, getting the winning kill from Aubrey Tanner. They turned the tide and held the Pirates to a -.051 attack percentage thanks partly to 4.0 team blocks. Maddie Badger had four kills, two solo blocks and one block assist in the third.
The match caught fire in a fourth set that featured seven ties and three lead changes. Whitworth led the first half of the game, going into the technical timeout with a 15-13 lead. The Pirates stretched the margin to 17-14 on a kill by Alyssa Baird. Puget Sound answered with a 5-1 run, going up 19-18 on an ace from Calista Davis. The Bucs took the lead 23-22 on a Dodson kill before Puget Sound scored the set's last three points, winning on a kill from Nicolette Raduziner.
Puget Sound was poised to finish off the comeback after taking a 13-10 lead in the fifth. Whitworth used a 5-1 run to take a 15-14 lead on a kill from Short. The Pirates served for the match at 15-14, 16-15 and 17-16 but could not finish off Puget Sound. The Loggers had a chance to win serving at 18-17 before Baird got a kill. Raduziner and Badger got the final two kills to win the match.
Dodson posted career-highs of 22.5 points and 20 kills to lead Whitworth offensively. She hit .333 and added two aces and one block assist. Kremer finished with 16.0 points on 12 kills, two aces and four block assists. Baird had 15 kills and Short added 14 as the Pirates posted a season-high 72 kills in the match. Madison Pridon and Sofie Fox dished 37 and 25 assists, respectively. Whitworth finished the match hitting .202.
Tanner led Puget Sound with 17.5 points thanks to 17 kills and a block assist. Badger posted 16.0 points with 11 kills, for solo blocks and two block assists. Raduziner had a dozen kills and two aces. The Loggers hit .152.
