MCMINNVILLE, Ore.—Izzy Willis and Annika Traxler each recorded double-doubles, but Lewis & Clark volleyball couldn't hold off host Linfield University in a 3-1 setback on Friday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium. 

THE BASICS
Linfield 3, Lewis & Clark 1
(Lewis & Clark 5-6, Northwest Conference 0-3) 
(Linfield 5-5, Northwest Conference 1-2) 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
After dropping the first set 25-13, Lewis & Clark stormed back to take the second set 25-22. The Pioneers held a lead for most of the third set, before the Wildcats used a 7-0 run to grab the lead (19-16) and held on for a 25-21 set win. Linfield carried the momentum into the fourth set and threatened to run away with it when they pushed their lead to 21-13. Lewis & Clark answered with an 8-3 flurry to get within three, but the hosts used a kill coming out of a timeout to win the set and the match. 
 
Willis enjoyed her best conference match of the season thus far. The senior posted a match-high 16 kills and added 12 digs and a pair of aces. 
 
Traxler joined Willis in filling up the statsheet. The junior finished second among all players with 14 kills and led the team with her .186 hitting percentage. Traxler tacked on a career-high 12 digs and notched three aces. 
 
Freshman Ruby Kuerschner tacked on 28 assists, to go along with seven digs and two kills. 
 
Defensively, senior Katie Shimaura led Lewis & Clark with 17 digs. She also posted three assists and an ace. Freshman Christi San Diego posted three of the team's 10 block assists, with Emily Strand and Kuerschner finished with two apiece. 
 
Linfield raced out to a 5-0 lead to start the match but Lewis & Clark wouldn't go down without a run of their own. The Pioneers countered with 10 of the next 15 points to tie the match at 10-all. Junior Bethany Ballesteros (three) and Strand combined for four aces during the run to help Lewis & Clark get back into the set. The hosts would have an answer of their own though. Linfield bounced back with seven-straight points to grab a 17-10 lead and never looked back to take a 1-0 lead. 
 
The second set was much more even with neither team leading by more than three points at any point. With the scored tied at 20-20, Kuerschner temporarily gave Lewis & Clark the lead with a kill. After a Wildcats kill evened the score at 21, the Pioneers got a side out on a service error and an Annika Traxler ace would give the visitors the lead for good. Coming out of a timeout leading by one, Lewis & Clark received a side out on another service error and Willis closed out a tremendous set with a kill off the Linfield block. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Willis is now within 11 kills of 600 for her career. Her 145 kills this season are just 12 shy of her season total from a year ago when she played in 19 matches. 
• The Pioneers put together a stronger showing offensively with every set. Their hitting percentage went up over 200 points from the first set to the fourth. 
• Traxler went over 100 kills in a single-season for the first time in her collegiate career on Friday. Her 111 kills this season are 13 more than she posted combined in her first two seasons. 
• Shimaura is now just 15 digs shy of ninth place in program history for career digs. Cheri Soliday (90-91) currently holds ninth place with 839 digs. 
• Kuerschner's 28 assists on Friday were her most career assists in a conference match and her third-most assists in a single-match this season. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will host the University of Puget Sound on Saturday at 6 p.m. in their Northwest Conference home opener.