PORTLAND, Ore. — Lewis & Clark College volleyball showed grit through several back-and-forth stretches but came up short against Whitman College, falling 25-20, 25-12, 25-22 in Saturday's Northwest Conference match at Pamplin Sports Center.
THE BASICS
Whitman 3, Lewis & Clark 0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-22)
Lewis & Clark (0-13, 0-6 NWC)
Whitman (5-8, 4-2 NWC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Junior outside hitter
Kaitlyn Jensen paced the Pioneers' offense and defense with 10 kills and 10 digs, marking her second double-double of the season. She hit .231 (10-4-26) and added two aces and three block assists to total a team-high 13.5 points.
Junior setter
Ruby Kuerschner directed the offense with 20 assists while adding eight digs, one ace, and two kills. Juniors
HB Schuett and
Isabel Meleán-Williams chipped in four kills each, with Schuett also tallying three aces and two blocks.
Junior
Christi San Diego contributed three kills and three block assists to lead the front line, while senior
Abigail Warrick added two kills, two digs and a block.
Lewis & Clark went toe-to-toe with Whitman early, taking an 11-9 lead in the opening set behind a pair of aces from Schuett and a block from San Diego and Warrick. The Blues rallied late with a 9-4 run to close the set 25-20.
Whitman carried the momentum into the second frame, jumping ahead 6-1 before Jensen and Warrick landed back-to-back kills and sophomore
Daphne Ibrao delivered an ace to narrow the deficit to 8-6. The visitors, however, answered with a 17-6 surge to pull away and take a 2-0 lead.
The Pioneers regrouped in the third, battling point-for-point with the Blues. After trailing 14-6, Lewis & Clark clawed back to within one at 23-22 following an ace from Jensen. Whitman held on, taking the final two points to secure the sweep.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 100+ — Jensen recorded her third double-double of the season and surpassed 100 kills (105) and 100 digs (108) on the year.
- 1,170 — Kuerschner, who surpassed 1,150 career assists on Friday, notched her 30th career match with at least 20 assists.
- 3 — Schuett has posted three service aces in three straight matches and ranks third on the team with 15 aces this season.
- .152 — Lewis & Clark outhit Whitman .152 to .028 in the third set and sided out at a 60% rate before their rally fell short.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark closes its four-match homestand on Friday, hosting Linfield University at 7 p.m. inside Pamplin Sports Center.