McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Jumping out to quick leads in all three sets, the Lewis & Clark volleyball team completed a straight sets victory over the Linfield Wildcats, 25-16, 25-17, 25-14, on Saturday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.

The Pioneers trailed just once throughout the entire match and finished with a conference schedule-high .256 hitting percentage. It was Lewis & Clark's most efficient match since Sept. 5 when the Pios won in three sets over Mills and hit .305 with 28 kills. On Saturday, Lewis & Clark had only 31 kills, their second-fewest in a win.

"We had a very efficient night," said head coach Stacie Matz-Gordon. "Playing on the road in the conference is not easy, especially the first match, but our girls stepped up to the challenge and had a very strong game."

Freshman Julia Somers, the team's leader in kills entering the game, posted a career-high .522 hitting percentage, landing 12 kills without an error on 23 total attacks. She also had a game-high three aces.

Junior Maeleen Hopeau finished with eight kills and Riley Stephens put up five. Mikayla Lopez led the Pioneers with 11 assists and added two aces, as did Kortney Meyer, who finished with two kills and a block as well.

Alexe Navarro put up 13 digs and an ace.

Along with Stephens (pictured below right), some of the other younger Pios players saw time on the court Saturday, including two sets by Sam Yorke, who finished with four assists. Bridgette Henningsen played in a set and had a dig.

Caiti Barrie led Linfield with six kills and Jamie Taibo was the match-high in assists with 13. Courtney Uyeda had 12 digs for the Wildcats.

Lewis & Clark (7-4, 4-0 NWC) scored the first six points of the match, eventually leading the first set by nine points, 22-13, before closing it out on three errors by Linfield. Hopeau had half of her kills in the set.

Linfield (4-9, 1-3) recovered from early Lewis & Clark leads early in sets, including falling behind 6-2 in the second before closing to within 7-5 behind Casie Gaza's serves. Much like in the first set, however, Lewis & Clark pulled away toward the midpoint, building a 12-7 advantage in part to three straight attack errors by Linfield. Lewis & Clark's Casey Myszkowski had two kills in the final 13 points of the set and Stephens had three to help the Pios to a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Wildcats started better in the finale, leading 3-2 before the Pioneers moved ahead 10-5. With Lewis & Clark leading 19-12, Somers had four kills in the next six points to give the Pios the straight sets road win.

Lewis & Clark now plays one of its two midweek conference matches this Wednesday at Willamette before returning to the Pamplin Sports Center on Saturday against Puget Sound. Both matches start at 7 p.m.