PARKLAND - Pacific Lutheran recorded a school-record 16 team blocks in a four-set match on Wednesday night in defeating the visiting Puget Sound Loggers, 25-23, 25-16, 19-25, 25-20, in a Northwest Conference volleyball match played in Olson Auditorium.
The win keeps alive the Lutes' hope of winning their fifth straight conference crown, giving them a 12-3 NWC record to go along with an 18-7 overall mark. Puget Sound falls into a second-place tie with Pacific Lutheran at 12-3 and the Loggers are 17-6 overall.
The Lutes dominated the match at the net with their 16 team blocks. Bethany Huston had a pair of solo blocks and Beth Hanna had one, but otherwise PLU used two-player blocks to record-setting levels in front of an appreciative crowd of 725 fans. Erin Bremond had eight block assists, Kelsie Moore had six, Melissa DeWalt added five and Sarah Beaver contributed four as the Lutes scored key points by shutting down the Loggers at the net.
On offense, Hanna led the Lutes with 14 kills and a .268 attack percentage, while Bremond and Rose Mattson both contributed seven kills apiece. Beaver, who along with Hanna was honored on Senior Night, finished the match with 36 assists. When the Loggers got the ball past the block, Blair Bjorkman was often there to dig up the attack attempt and finished with an amazing 38 digs, followed by Mattson and Moore with 15 apiece. As a team, the Lutes finished wtih a .088 attack percentage.
Brynn Blickenstaff tied Hanna for match-high honors with 14 kills, and she had help from Natalie Monro and her 11 kills. Erika Greene had 33 assists and 13 digs for the Loggers, who also got 17 digs from Juliette Witous and 13 digs from Stephanie O'Connor. The Loggers finished with a 0.59 attack percentage.
The match started poorly for both team as neither finished the first set with a positive attack percentage, PLU at -.060 and Puget Sound at -.021. The Lutes held a 6-4 lead but made three consecutive attack errors as the Loggers ran off five consecutive points. Another six-point run, fueled by five straight PLU attack errors, increased the Loggers' advantage to 15-8. PLU slowly pulled back into the set, scoring four straight points on Sarah Beaver's serve, but Puget Sound still led 22-17 after another home team error when the Loggers committed four errors that helped PLU score six straight points to take a 23-22 lead. With the score tied at 23-23, Bremond had a kill and the Loggers an attack error as the Lutes finished off their rally.
The second set was all Pacific Lutheran as it never trailed and was tied just once at 3-3. The Lutes hit .206 in the set, including four kills on nine attempts by Hanna, and they led by as many as 11 points at 21-10 after scoring eight consecutive points highlighted by three service aces by Haley Urdahl.
Puget Sound broke an 11-11 tie in the third set on Jackie Harvey's kill, and they slowly pulled away to win the third set. Monro found the range from the left side, pounding down five of her 11 kills in the set. Trailing 22-14, the Lutes managed to get within five points but Blickenstaff ended the set with a powerful kill.
Hanna became the focal point of the PLU offense in the fifth set. The three-time All-America outside hitter had five kills in that set to lead the Lutes to the win. The teams pretty much traded points until the Lutes scored three unanswered points, highlighted by Hanna's service ace, to take a 17-13 advantage. The Loggers never got closer than three points the rest of the way as the Lutes recorded an astounding seven team blocks in the final set. They scored three of their final five points with blocks, including the match winner when Bremond and Beaver stuff Monro's attack attempt.
Both teams remain in the running for the conference title with one road match remaining. The Lutes play at fourth-place Linfield on Friday night and the Loggers take on last-place Pacific on Saturday night.
- PLU -
