PORTLAND, Ore. – Five Lewis & Clark College volleyball players had multiple kills in Saturday night's Northwest Conference match, but it wasn't enough as defending league champion Pacific Lutheran University secured a 3-0 win in Pamplin Sports Center.
THE BASICS
Pacific Lutheran 3, Lewis & Clark 0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-20)
(Lewis & Clark 0-10, 0-3 NWC)
(Pacific Lutheran 9-4, 4-0 NWC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Annika Traxler led the team with 11 kills on .455 (11-1-22), hitting against the Lutes. The senior added four digs, an ace and a block on the night.
Seniors
Emily Strand (six kills),
Ella Ruark (four kills), sophomores
Christi San Diego (four kills) and
Ruby Kuerschner (three kills) rounded out the Lewis & Clark offense. San Diego hit .444 (4-0-9) for the Pioneers and added three blocks. Ruark led the team with three service aces and had two blocks.
Bethany Ballesteros and
Kelsie Nakashima led the Pios in the back row with six digs each, and junior Reilyn Sabodo was second with five.
The Lutes jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the first set, but a kill from Kuerschner pulled the Pioneers within 12-10. Pacific Lutheran took the set with a 13-4 run.
Lewis & Clark bounced back in the second set, taking an 8-3 lead and forcing the Lutes to take an early timeout. The Pioneers led late into the set, but the Lutes tied it at 18-all on a kill by Shaela Allen-Greggs. After falling down by two, Ruark and Strand blocked Pacific Lutherans Julissa Pernsteiner to pull within 21-20. Kills by San Diego and Traxler kept the Pios in the set, but they could not send it to extra points, and the Lutes prevailed 25-23.
Ruark served up an ace in the third set to give Lewis & Clark a 4-1 lead. The Lutes then went on a 16-5. The Pioneers strung together five points with kills by Traxler and aces by Ruark bookending a block by San Diego and sophomore
Isabel Meleán-Williams to pull within 17-14. A kill by Ruark late in the set made it 22-19, but it wasn't enough as the Lutes won 25-20.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Ruark served up seven of her eight aces this weekend against two of the top teams in the NWC.
- Kuerschner finished with 18 assists and is now at 751 career assists.
- Pacific Lutheran head coach Kevin Aoki won his 500th career match on Saturday night; he has been the Lutes head coach since 1996.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark hosts Linfield University in a mid-week match on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
