By Maddie Bernard, PLU Sports Information Student Writer

PARKLAND -- The Pacific Lutheran volleyball team closed out the first half of the 2015 Northwest Conference season with a three-set sweep of Linfield Friday night, as the Lutes defeated the Wildcats 25-23, 25-16, and 25-12 at Names Family Court.

A close first set gave way to more dominant performances in the second and third set as PLU improved to 5-3 in conference play and 11-6 overall this season in front of a large Homecoming crowd.

"It was just a great win with the big crowd," PU head coach Kevin Aoki said. "We settled down after the first set and played Lute ball."

The first set saw six tie scores and five lead changes, but the Lutes pulled up to a 15-10 lead and looked like they might pull away. However, Linfield came back with a five-point streak to tie things up 15-15. Consecutive kills by Michaela Edgers and Chloe Epker ended the Linfield run and PLU again pulled ahead by four at 22-18 before Linfield again battled back to within one. Edgers sealed the game 25-23 with an attack from the middle.

The beginning of the second set was close for the first 14 points, but a kill by Lucy Capron sparked a 12-2 PLU run that gave that gave the Lutes an 18-9 lead. Mackenzie Harris tallied three of her match-high four blocks in the set, including back-to-back blocks with Epker and Roshel Muzzall. Linfield worked its way back to within five, but the Lutes finished the set strong with another four-point streak with kills from Capron, Edgers, and Harris.

Linfield scored five of the first eight points in the third set, but it was all PLU from there, as Kylai Cooley tallied four straight service aces as part of a 14-3 PLU run that turned a two-point Linfield lead into a nine-point PLU advantage. The Lutes closed out the night on a 6-2 run to cap the set-and-match victory.

Capron led the offense with 14 kills, while Taylor Komagome led the defense earning 17 digs. Harris had her best game of the season with seven kills and five blocks, while Kendle Valade-Nunez totaled 33 assists.

The Lutes open the second half of the conference season next weekend on the road, visiting Whitworth Oct. 16 and visiting Whitman Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. both nights.