PORTLAND, Ore. – Lewis & Clark College volleyball dropped a three-set Northwest Conference match to Willamette University Tuesday night in Pamplin Sports Center. The Pioneers fought hard but ultimately fell 25-17, 31-29, 25-19.
THE BASICS
Willamette 3, Lewis & Clark 0 (25-17, 31-29, 25-19)
(Lewis & Clark 0-16, 0-9 NWC)
(Willamette 6-11, 5-4 NWC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior Kelsie Nakashima (13 assists) and sophomore Kenzie Edwards (11 assists) combined for 24 of the Pioneers' 27 assists against the Bearcats. The setters contributed 16 combined digs on defense, as Nakashima recorded seven and Edwards dug up nine attacks.
Outside hitters Isabel Meleán-Williams and Annika Traxler led Lewis & Clark with 17 kills. The sophomore Meleán-Williams hit a team-high .250 with nine kills and added a block. Traxler, a senior, knocked down eight kills, had six digs and a service ace.
Opposite hitter Ella Ruark was third on the team with five kills. The senior added two digs and an assist.
Senior Bethany Ballesteros and first-year Ainsley Mochrie each had 10 digs to lead the Pioneers' defensive efforts in the back row.
At the net, senior Emily Strand (four kills) and sophomore Christi San Diego (one kill, two aces) each had three blocks defensively.
Lewis & Clark kept pace early, with the score tied at 5-5 before Willamette began to pull away in the first set. After being down by as many as six points, the Pioneers fought back to tie the set at 17-all. The Bearcats regrouped after a timeout and scored the final eight points to take a 1-0 match lead.
The second set was the most competitive of the night. Neither team led by more than three points at any point, and there were 19 ties and eight lead changes. One of San Diego's aces tied the set at 19-all and forced Willamette to take the final time out either team had left. The set would again be tied at 20, 21 and 22 before the Bearcats scored two consecutive points for set point. Meleán-Williams saved the first set point with a kill, while Strand and San Diego saved the second and tied the set at 24 with a block.
Heading into extra points, the Pioneers had the momentum and took a 25-24 lead and their first set point of the night on a block by San Diego and Meleán-Williams. The teams battled it out and Lewis & Clark had five set points before Willamette tied it for the final time, then scored the next two to secure the win.
The Pioneers started the set strong again before the Bearcats pulled away for an early 9-5 lead. A San Diego kill, combined with an ace from Mochrie and a Willamette hitting error, pulled Lewis & Clark within 11-10. The Bearcats would use mini runs to get a little bit of a lead, but a Traxler kill cut it 21-19 late in the set. Unfortunately, Willamette scored the final four points to sweep the match.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Sophomore HB Schuett tied their career-high with three digs and added a block in the match.
- Edwards made her first collegiate start against the Bearcats.
- Meleán-Williams was the only Pioneers to have multiple kills in every set.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark has the next nine days off before they travel to Tacoma, Washington, to take on Pacific Lutheran University on October 25 at 7:00 p.m.
