BOX SCORE

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Willamette Bearcats defeated the Lewis & Clark Pioneers 3-1 on Wednesday night in a Northwest Conference midweek game at the Pamplin Sports Complex. The Bearcats earned a 25-21 win in the first set, before the Pioneers picked up a 25-20 victory in the second set, only to fall to Willamette 26-24 and 25-15 in the following two sets.

Junior Margaret Dowling finished the match with a team-leading 14 kills, while Jenn Dowdy was close behind with 13 kills. Sophomore Leia Matsunaga had one of her best nights of the season, finishing with 43 assists. Matsunaga was able to catch the Bearcats on six different occasions, dumping the ball over the net instead of setting the ball.

Defensively for the Pios, Lou Ohki ended her night with a match-high 20 digs, while Dowling chipped in 16 and Dowdy added 15. Freshman Alicia Callejo-Black and senior Katherine Fiedler came up with a block solo and block assist each.

For the Bearcats, Madisyn Leenstra put up a match-high 20 kills for a .296 attacking percentage. Molly Blankenship contributed 12 kills to the Bearcat attack, while Carly Hargrave had 11. Bridget Miller set her teammates 46 times, leading all players in assists.

All but one player who saw time on the court for Willamette came up with at least one dig. Miller led the Bearcats with 13 digs and Elizabeth Balding had 12. Shannon Walz was a beast at the net for Willamette knocking down four blocks.