LINCOLN, Neb. – Whitworth's season-opening winning streak came to an end in the Pirates' final contest on Saturday at the P-Wolf Invitational volleyball tournament hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University.
The Bucs (6-1) defeated St. Scholastica in four sets before falling in three sets to 24th-ranked St. Olaf. Whitworth will now turn its attention to Northwest Conference play beginning next Friday and Saturday against Linfield and Lewis & Clark.
Whitworth 3, St. Scholastica 1
Four players reached double figures in kills to lead the Pirates to a 25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 25-14 win over the Saints in Saturday's early match.
Whitworth hit .256 as a team and above .300 in both the first and fourth sets.
Alyssa Baird had 14 kills, while Bryanna Dodson and Lindsey Short added 11 apiece. Lauren Kremer finished with 10. Madison Pridon directed the effective attack with 36 assists. Defensively, Kaylee Winterroth was in on 10 blocks (three solo, seven assists) while Olivia Paul got under 27 digs. Paul also served three of the Pirates' nine aces.
Ava Decker and Lilli Rechichi had a dozen kills each for St. Scholastica (3-3).
St. Olaf 3, Whitworth 0
The Pirates dropped a close first set then could not establish any momentum in the second and third, falling to the 24th-ranked Oles 25-23, 25-19, 25-22. St. Olaf improved to 5-1.
The opening frame was tied 22-22 before the Oles scored three of the final four points. The Bucs trailed throughout the second and most of the third. Whitworth finally got going late in the third and pulled into a 21-21 tie on a St. Olaf error. But the Oles scored four of the next five points.
Dodson had 11 kills and only one error to hit .270. Baird and Short added six kills each. The Pirates hit a season-low .144 as a team.
Maren Miller and Mehsa Krause had nine kills each for St. Olaf.
