Written by Student Assistant Christian Bond

TACOMA, Wash. – The Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team fell behind early on Friday night before rallying to the victory, extending its winning streak to nine matches with a 3-1 (26-28, 25-15, 25-15, 25-22) win over Linfield College in a Northwest Conference tilt inside Olson Gymnasium.

The first set was a back and forth battle as the score sat even at 26 all before Linfield's (9-9. 3-8 NWC) Regan Dean had the final two kills, giving the Wildcats the set win. It would be Linfield's only win of the night as PLU (16-3, 10-1 NWC) would dominate the second and third set by identical 25-15 scores. In the fourth set, Linfield got off to a 4-0 start before the Lutes would tie it at 13. It was tied again at 21 when the Lutes scored three straight points, on their way to the 25-22 victory to seal the match.

"I think we came out a little flat," head coach Kevin Aoki said. "After the big weekend last weekend, it took us a little while to get going. Once we got going, we were fine."

Mackenzie Harris had an excellent night around the net for the Lutes. She led the game in kills with 11 and had seven total blocks. McKenna Ventura got the start in tonight's contest, as she reached double figures in kills with 10. Danielle Skibiel had nine kills and eight blocks. As usual, the offense was ran through Kiana Calles. Calles had a game-high 36 assists for the Lutes while also collecting 12 digs. 

"I thought McKenna did a really good job with 10 kills," Aoki said. "Mackenzie came on in the end. The key for us is that we had 15 blocks on them."

PLU played outstanding defense throughout the night. Caylie Shiramizu led the squad with 26 digs while Chloe Epker reached 21 digs.

The Lutes return to action tomorrow night as they host Lewis & Clark College for a match that begins at 5 p.m.

"We just got to play Lute volleyball all the time and continue to play steady," Aoki said.