PARKLAND - Pacific Lutheran assured itself of at least a tie for the Northwest Conference volleyball championship by sweeping away the visiting Linfield Wildcats on Saturday night in Olson Auditorium.

In defeating the Wildcats by a trio of 25-15 scores, the 15th-ranked Lutes improved their overall record to 16-5 and the Northwest Conference mark to 12-0. Linfield is now 8-11 overall and 5-7 in the conference.

With four matches remaining and holding a four-match lead over George Fox, Lewis & Clark and Puget Sound, the Lutes have assured themselves of at least a share of their fifth conference crown in the past six seasons. PLU shared the 2006 title with Linfield and won outright championships in 2004, 2007 and 2008. PLU plays Whitman and Whitworth in home matches on Oct. 30 and 31 before ending the regular season with road contests at Willamette and Lewis & Clark during the first weekend in November.

PLU dominated in the first set behind the hitting of middles Erin Bremond and Kelcy Joynt. Bremond had six kills and no errors on eight swings and Joynt added four kills as the Lutes hit .385 in the opening set. They never trailed in the set and steadily built their largest lead at 22-10 on a kill by setter Sarah Beaver.

Only in the second set did Linfield give the Lutes any trouble, rallying from an early 5-2 deficit with a 7-1 run, highlighted by a pair of Tara Hill kills. the Lutes rallied to regain the lead at 10-9 and never again trailed.

The third set was much like the first, though Linfield held a momentary 3-2 lead on a kill by Katie Leavitt. The Lutes responded with a 6-0 run, highlighted by a pair of Beth Hanna kills, and they were on their way to their 10th straight-set win in 12 conference matches.

Beaver finished the match wtih 36 assists and Joynt led her team with eight kills while hitting .333. Bremond and Hanna added seven kills apiece and Brenna Archibald and Joynt each contributed 12 digs. All 16 players on the PLU roster saw action in the match. The Lutes finished with a .300 attack percentage.

Emily Vuylsteke led Linfield with eight kills and a .333 attack percentage as the 'Cats managed a positive attack mark in only the first set when they hit .159. They ended up with .000 percentages in each of the final two sets and finished with a .064 mark.

- PLU -