TACOMA, Wash. - Sianna Iverson made her Lute debut in style on Friday night, collecting 18 kills as the Pacific Lutheran University volleyball squad opened the season with a 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 25-17) victory over crosstown nemesis University of Puget Sound inside Olson Gymnasium. 
 
A service error and a Baylee Johnson kill closed out the opening set 25-21 in favor of the host Lutes before the Loggers overcame an early 4-0 deficit to take the second set 25-23. PLU held a tenuous 16-14 lead in the third before ripping off four straight. Puget Sound narrowed the gap to 23-22 and again at 24-23 but an Iverson kill gave PLU the 25-23 set win.
 
PLU tallied four of the final five points in the fourth, getting kills from Iverson, Breeze Bartle and a match-clincher from Hailey Iha.
 
Iverson led the way with 18 kills while Lauren Wilson, Johnson, and McKenzie Pfeiffer each added seven. Emily Dulaney setup the offense with 43 assists while also netting four aces. Halle Hetzler had a team-high 22 digs with Wilson adding 11.
 
"Well the 449 days, that's a long time. We battled tonight against a very good team," said Head Coach Kevin Aoki.

"We had some freshman out there that was their first time playing, Breeze Bartle, Torie Takeuchi, and then Sianna Iverson led us with 18 kills. Lauren Wilson has not played for a long time because she got hurt in fall 2019 and it was good to see her back and our libero Halle was all over the place." 
 
The Lutes and Loggers met again tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. inside Olson Gymnasium.