BOX SCORE
McMINNVILLE, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark
dropped a Northwest Conference battle to the Linfield Wildcats,
3-2, on the road Saturday evening. The Wildcats pulled
through with final scores of 17-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20 and
15-11.
The Pioneers fall to 6-8 on the season and 2-2 in the NWC, while
the Wildcats are now 5-7 overall and 3-1 in conference action.
Junior Margaret
Dowling finished with a match-high 17 kills, while contributing
18 digs and a block assist on the defensive end. Sophomore Jenn
Dowdy contributed 14 kills to the Pioneer assault and setter Leia
Matsunaga finished with a match-high 43 assists.
The Wildcats were led by 12 kills from Kelsey Ludin and 11 from
Rae Smith. Emily Carpenter finished the night with a match-high
four service aces.
The Pioneers were strong in the first set, finishing with a team
attacking percentage of .367, in their 25-17 victory. Lewis &
Clark captured the lead on the opening play with a kill by freshman
Alicia
Callejo-Black and never looked back. Dowling handed the
Pioneers an eight point, 15-7, lead with back-to-back kills with
assists from Matsunaga and senior Lou Ohki. Dowling
would go on to close out the set with an ace.
Linfield opened the second set on a 4-1 run courtesy of unforced
errors by the Pioneers. Lewis & Clark eventually settled down
and took control of the contest on a Dowling kill that tied the set
9-9. The Pioneers would keep the Wildcats at bay until a bad set by
L&C tied the set 16-16. The Wildcats would rally around the Pio
error, battling back to regain the lead on a kill by Shayli Coppock
to make the score 19-18. Linfield closed out the set on a 6-3 run
for the win to tie the match at 1-1.
The third set opened with both teams trading points on attacking
errors. Lewis & Clark would tie the set 6-6 on a Wildcat
attacking error, before running up a 14-9 lead. The Wildcats would
continue to pressure the Pios, but L&C would remain composed
and pick up their second win of the match.
The Wildcats led the fourth set from start to finish, but the
Pioneers were never too far behind. A kill by Tara Hill sealed the
win, sending the match into a fifth set.
A Dowling kill and Wildcat attacking errors allowed the Pios to
capture a 3-0 lead to start the final set. Jordan Johnson tied
things at 4-4 on a kill that shifted the momentum in the Wildcats
favor. Linfield earned the lead on the next play with a Pio error,
before coming up with huge blocks at toward the end of the set to
pick up the 15-11 lead.
The Pioneers return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 29 when they
head to Salem to take on Willamette at 7 p.m.
