McMinnville, Ore.—Despite a season-high 11 kills from Izzy Willis and the first career double-double from Bethany Ballesteros, Lewis & Clark volleyball fell 3-1 to conference foe Linfield University on Saturday night. 
 
THE BASICS
Linfield 3, Lewis & Clark 1
(Lewis & Clark 1-6, Northwest Conference 0-2) 
(Linfield 5-3, NWC 1-1) 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Lewis & Clark overcame a slow first set to tie the match at 1-1, but the Wildcats responded with back-to-back set wins to capture the conference victory. 
 
Willis enjoyed the best match of her junior season thus far. The Pioneers outside hitter finished with a team-high 11 kills and a season-best .393 hitting percentage. She chipped in one solo block, two block assists and one dig. 
 
Ballesteros had a huge match of her own. The sophomore posted her first collegiate double-double with a career-high 16 assists, to go along with 15 digs. 
 
Ellie Weber and Debi Chun (nine digs) each chipped in eight kills apiece and Emily Strand tacked on five kills. 
 
Junior Kelsie Nakashima finished second on the team with 12 assists and fourth with eight digs. Katie Shimaura enjoyed a strong match with 14 digs, a team-best five aces and four assists. 
 
Marina Erosa (12 kills), Raelynn Hammock (11 kills) and Ellie Mead (11 kills) paced the hosts offensively. 
 
Linfield raced out to a 10-2 lead to open the match and cruised to a 25-14 set one victory. 
 
The Wildcats carried that momentum into the second set by jumping out to a 6-2 advantage. Lewis & Clark responded with a 15-3 run of their own to take their largest lead of the match (17-9). Linfield cut the deficit to 24-23 late in the set but Willis came through with a set-winning kill off a pass from Ballesteros. 
 
The third set would be the exact opposite of the second (at least to start). Lewis & Clark got off to a hot mini-start, only for the hosts to use a 9-1 surge to take a 10-4 edge. The Pioneers cut the deficit to four at 15-11 but never got any closer in a 25-19 third set loss. 
 
The fourth and final set was the closest set to begin. The two sides were tied seven times in the first 18 points and neither team led by more than two points. With the set tied 9-9, Linfield used a 9-0 run to grab control (18-9) and held on for a 25-17 set victory. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Saturday's match was the Pioneers seventh-straight road match to start the season. 
• Ballesteros has posted double-digit assists in four-straight matches and double-digit digs three times this season. 
• Linfield held an 11-5 edge in blocks. Mead led the Wildcats with four solo blocks and tacked on two block assists. 
• Linfield has now won two-straight matches over the Pioneers. The Wildcats lead the all-time series 67-52. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will finally play their home opener on Friday, when they host Pacific University on Friday night at 7 p.m.