TACOMA, Wash. – Lewis & Clark College volleyball rebounded from an opening set loss, taking the second set to tie the match before dropping the next two to defending Northwest Conference Champion Pacific Lutheran University in a four-set Friday night loss at Olson Auditorium.
 
THE BASICS
 
Pacific Lutheran 3, Lewis & Clark 1 (25-8, 25-27, 25-15, 25-17)
(Lewis & Clark 0-17, 0-10 NWC)
(Pacific Lutheran 15-6, 10-2 NWC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Four Pioneer hitters recorded multiple kills, led by senior Ella Ruark, with nine kills on .250 hitting. Ruark hit .571 in the second set with four kills.
 
Seniors Annika Traxler (eight kills) and Emily Strand (six kills) were second and third on the team, while sophomore Christi San Diego added two kills for the Pioneers offense.
 
Defensively, senior libero Kelsie Nakashima led the team with 12 digs. Sophomore Ruby Kuerschner added eight digs while dishing out 19 assists, and senior Bethany Ballesteros had six digs and two service aces.  
 
The Pioneers struggled early as the Lutes dominated the opening set. PLU jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Strand and junior Abby Warrick teamed up for a block to register the first point of the night for the Pios. The Lutes responded with three straight points and never looked back, hitting .294 while holding Lewis & Clark to a -.182 hitting percentage in the first frame.
 
Lewis & Clark rebounded in the second set, taking an early lead that they held until let in the set before Pacific Lutheran rallied to push the Pios to extra points. A kill by Strand and back-to-back hitting errors by the Lutes gave the Pioneers a 5-1 lead. PLU fought back to tie the set three times, but Lewis & Clark never let them take the lead and used a 6-1 run to force a timeout by the home team at 14-9 after Ballesteros recorded her second ace of the set.
 
Traxler served up an ace of her own to give the Pioneers an 18-13 lead. Ruark pushed the Pioneers to the all-important 20-point mark on a kill and a three-point advantage. PLU used a 5-2 run to tie the set at 22, but a Traxler kill and an ace by junior Reilyn Sabado gave Lewis & Clark a set point at 24-22. The Lutes tied the set two more times, forcing extra points, but consecutive hitting errors by PLU gave the Pioneers a 27-25 win to tie the match.
 
The momentum shifted back to Pacific Lutheran in the third set. The Lutes hit .235 in the third frame, and after Ruark pulled Lewis & Clark within 9-8 on a kill, PLU puled away with a 6-1 run midway through. A bad set by the Lutes Julissa Pernsteiner cut their lead to 18-14, but the Pioneers would not get any closer in the set as PLU closed it out on a 7-1 run.
 
Lewis & Clark fell behind early in the fourth set as Pacific Lutheran built a 10-2 lead. The Pioneers fought back and used an 8-0 run to tie the set at 10-all as Traxler and Ruark knocked down kills in the rally that also had five straight hitting errors by the Lutes. Ruark again pulled the Pios within one point (12-11) with a kill. PLU used a 6-0 run to pull away and outscored Lewis & Clark 13-6 down the stretch to secure the match.
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Lewis & Clark served up five of their seven match aces in the second set.
• Ruark and Traxler recorded at least one kill in each set, and the duo recorded multiple kills in each of the final three sets.
• Warrick tied her career-high with two blocks on the night against the Lutes.
• Both teams protected their leads in the match, as there were no lead changes but seven ties.  

WHO'S NEXT
 
The Pioneers wrap up their trip to Tacoma with a 6:00 p.m. match at Puget Sound on Saturday.