Pacific Lutheran stayed on top of the Northwest Conference standings on Saturday night, beating Lewis & Clark in straight sets 25-19, 25-22, 25-18. Margaret Dowling finished with a team-high nine kills for the Pioneers.

The Lutes (16-6 overall, 10-2 conference), who have won three of the last four NWC titles, stayed one win ahead of Puget Sound (9-3) and two in front of the Pioneers (13-10 overall, 8-4 conference) in the chase for the 2008 conference crown.

PLU raced out to a 7-0 lead in the first set and added to its advantage, eventually taking a 20-7 lead on one of Erin Bremond's match-high 10 kills. The Pioneers refused to go without a fight, however, going on a pair of 6-0 runs to make it interesting. PLU's Katlyn Kester finally ended the set with a kill. The Lutes hit .143 in the set while the Pioneers struggled with nine kills and nine errors for a .000 attack percentage.

In the second set, the Lutes opened up a seven-point lead at 19-12 before the Pioneers stormed back to tie it at 22-22. From that point, the Lutes responded with a kill by Katy Tauscher, a service ace by Kester and a kill by Beth Hanna.

The teams battled on even terms up until the middle part of the third set before the Lutes opened a 15-12 lead on a kill by Bremond, a service ace by Brenna Archibald and another kill by Beth Hanna. The Pioneers temporarily stemmed the tide on a kill by Jessamy Holland, but the Lutes came back with five unanswered points, four on kills by four different players, to open up a comfortable 20-13 cushion.

Margaret Dowling finished with a team-high nine kills for the Pioneers, Katherine Fiedler added eight kills, while Kelsey Clark attached two solo blocks and four block assists. Lou Ohki had 20 digs.