PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Lewis & Clark Pioneers started the match with a lead halfway through the opening set before the Whitworth Pirates rallied back in a 25-21, 25-16, 25-9 loss for the Pios at Pamplin Sports Center on Friday night.

Whitworth entered the game as the Northwest Conference's first-place team and improved to 13-4 overall and 7-1 in the conference with the win. Lewis & Clark lost for the second time in five matches and is now 3-4 in the NWC and in fourth place.

The Pios were up 13-10 in the opener after kills by Casey Myszkowski, Emma Contreras, Julia Somers and Bailee Cragun. Sam Yorke dropped back-to-back aces early in the set to hold serve for three points.

Hitting woes plagued the Pioneers throughout the night. Even in the first set, when they landed their match-best 10 kills, the Pios hit .095. They finished in the negative for the first time this season, at -.010. Lewis & Clark also had a season-low 19 kills, which was below the 29 they posted against Hardin-Simmons on Sept. 9.

Yorke and Somers finished with two aces apiece and Alexe Navarro brought up 14 digs. Contreras finished with a team-high six kills.

Cassandra Mendoza landed 10 kills and Lauren Budde had a match-high .412 hitting percentage.

The Pioneers return to Pamplin on Saturday night against Whitman at 7 p.m.

Other Northwest Conference Scores - Friday

Pacific 3, Willamette 0
Puget Sound 3, George Fox 0
Pacific Lutheran 3, Linfield 1