FOREST GROVE, Ore. – A complete team effort from Lewis & Clark College volleyball earned a thrilling five-set victory over Pacific University on Friday evening. "We're really proud of how the whole team showed up tonight," said second-year head coach Erin Labasan. But the record-breaking defense clinched the 20-25, 27-25, 18-25, 26-24, 15-12 Northwest Conference victory for the Pioneers as the team recorded a new program record 32 block assists in a single match, besting the previous record of 29, that was set on September 18, 1990, against Pacific.  
 
THE BASICS
 
Lewis & Clark 3, Pacific 2 (20-25, 27-25, 18-25, 26-24, 15-12)
(Lewis & Clark 6-9, 1-6 NWC)
(Pacific 5-11, 1-6 NWC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Pacific hitters had no problem finding Lewis & Clark's Christi San Diego as they hit into the freshman's hands 12 times throughout the evening. The middle blocker from Gypsum, Colorado, set a new program record with 11 block assists in a single match, but it was her first career solo block in the first set that started the block party.
 
With the score knotted at four, San Diego stuffed Pacific's Alison Brown for Lewis & Clark's first of many defensive stops. Set one was a back-and-forth affair as neither team would pull ahead by more than three until the Boxers pulled away late in the set. With the score tied at 16, Pacific rattled off six consecutive points to put the set out of reach.
 
San Diego and junior Annika Traxler started the scoring for the Pioneers in set number two as they teamed up to stop the initial Boxer attack with the first of three team blocks in the set. Another close one was on the horizon at the Stoller Center, and the arms of freshman Isabel Melean-Williams and junior Emily Strand helped the Pioneers stay on track as the two combined for seven of the 11 kills in the set. Melean-Williams fourth kill of the set made it 17 all, and Strand pulled the Pios to within 19-18 a couple of points later with her third kill.
 
Pacific attempted to pull away again late as they took a 22-19 lead. A few points later, Melean-Williams and San Diego made the score 22-21 with a stuff at the net, but the Boxers went on a run again and committed a service error on set point to make the score 24-22. That was the window Lewis & Clark needed, and Traxler tied the score at 24 with a service ace. After a timeout, Pacific regained the advantage with a kill, then squandered it away on another service error. Senior Izzy Willis gave the Pioneers their final lead of the set with her fifth kill of the match, and a Boxer hitting error on the next point evened the set count at one apiece.
 
Pacific jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead after the break, but a Strand service ace tied the third set at nine. Later, the Pioneers rattled off four straight points with a kill by Willis, an ace by sophomore Reilyn Sabado, a kill by Traxler, and then a block by Strand and freshman setter Ruby Kuerschner to take an 18-17 lead and force a Boxer timeout. Pacific went on an eight-point run, the largest by either team all night, to close out the set and take a 2-1 advantage.  
 
The fourth set of the match would see the first of two program records fall. Former Pioneer, Kimberly Kilgore set the previous program record of eight block assists in a single match on September 28, 1994; Kilgore then tied her record on October 29 of that season. Seven Pioneers have tied the single-match block assist record eight times since 1994, including current Lewis & Clark assistant coach Isabel Valentine. San Diego tied the record in set number four to put the Pioneers up 2-1 with the help of Melean-Williams. At 8-all, Kuerschner and San Diego stopped the attack by Pacific's Emma Velcheck to set the new individual single-match program record for block assists. "She's been focusing on getting better every single day, putting in the work," Valentine said of San Diego. "This is just the beginning for her. We can't wait to see her bring it."
 
Like the previous sets, the score remained close until late in set four. This time, with the score tied at 18, it was Lewis & Clark that pulled ahead late to take the advantage and a 20-18 lead off a kill by Strand, followed by a block by Strand and Kuerschner. Pacific tied the set at 21; Kuerschner successfully dumped the ball, then served an ace to put the Pioneers back up by two. The Boxers wouldn't back down and seized match point at 24-23. After a Pacific hitting error, Traxler stepped to the service line and ripped consecutive aces to force the fifth and deciding set.
 
The Pioneers opened the fifth set with momentum, taking a 5-1 lead on the second record-breaking block of the night when San Diego and Melean-Williams stopped Pacific's Brown for the teams' 30^th block assist. A kill by Melean-Williams gave the Pios another four-point lead at 6-2.
 
Senior libero Katie Shimaura earned her second kill of the season and seventh of her career on a difficult Boxer serve at 6-4. Shimaura ran under the hard-hit serve and bumped it back over the net, surprising the Boxers as it landed in the middle of all the players.
 
With Pacific up 8-7 at the side change, Willis knocked down her team-leading 12^th kill to tie the final set at eight, then added another point with a service ace. The Pioneers recorded their 32^nd assisted block at 10-8 by Strand and Kuerschner, forcing Pacific's final timeout. Two points later, Lewis & Clark used their final timeout and took the lead at 11-10 on a Boxer hitting error. Traxler then recorded three straight kills to give the Pioneers match point. A Pacific side out and service ace made the score 14-12, but Traxler secured the victory with her 10^th kill of the match.
 
"They work hard for each other day in and day out, and it was really fun to see them earn tonight's result," Labasan said of the Pioneers after the match.
 
Shimaura continues to rise in the career program record books during her final season. She recorded her 900^th career dig in the match tonight and is sixth all-time with 901 digs. Her three service aces tonight, give her 84 career aces and places her eight all-time.
 
All five Pioneers that recorded block assists tonight and contributed to the new program record either set or tied their career high. Besides San Diego, Kuerschner (6), Traxler (5), and Melean Williams (5) all recorded new collegiate bests, while Strand (5) tied her career-high.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Three players recorded double-doubles in the victory, Willis (12 kills, 10 digs), Traxler (10 kills, 11 digs), and Kuerschner (31 assists, 15 digs).
• Lewis & Clark is 2-0 in five set matches this season, both times they lost the first set and persevered to secure the win.
• Shimaura's 31 digs tonight is the second highest in her career, she recorded her career high 40 digs last season at Pacific.
• Kuerschner has recorded her third double-double in her debut season and has had back to back 31 assist performances.
• The 17 team blocks were the most put up by the Pioneers since they recorded 16 team blocks against Occidental College on September 12, 2011.

WHO'S NEXT
 
Lewis & Clark wraps up the first half of their NWC schedule at 6 p.m. tomorrow in Tacoma, Washington against league leading Pacific Lutheran.