TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team opened the 2022 season in style on Friday at the Puget Sound Premiere, earning a pair of three set sweeps inside Memorial Fieldhouse. The Lutes began the day with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-10) win over Salve Regina University before powering past Benedictine University 3-0 (25-15, 26-24, 26-24) in the nightcap.
"It was a great start to our season, getting a pair of three-set sweeps," said Head Coach
Kevin Aoki.
"It's really tough to play four matches in two days but this team has so much grit that they find a way to persevere. We're looking forward to tomorrow."
Against Salve Regina (0-1), the Lutes led wire-to-wire in the opening set after scoring the opening four points and eight of the first nine. The Seahawks closed to within four at 19-15 but the Lutes (2-0) slammed the door with the next six points, including five of those off the serve of
Elle Thomas who had two aces during the run, including the set clinching point. PLU never trailed in the second, prevailing 25-17 before getting off to a sluggish start in the third. The Seahawks held an early 5-3 lead before PLU ripped off 18 of the next 21 points. PLU cruised to the 25-10 win to secure the match with
Haley Goto cementing the win with the match-clinching kill in her Lute debut.
Baylee Johnson and Thomas led the charge, each collecting seven kills. Thomas had four aces while
Liv Evaro tallied 28 assists. Defensively,
Halle Hetzler had 13 digs with Thomas and
Torie Takeuchi adding 12 and 10, respectively.
in the afternoon match, the Lutes led wire-to-wire in the opening set with a Johnson kill giving PLU the 25-15 set win. The screws tightened in the next two sets. Benedictine led 24-23 in the second before a pair of Eagle miscues tilted the scales in favor of PLU. Thomas made the Eagles (0-2) pay with a set sealing kill for the 26-24 set win.
Benedictine owned a 23-21 advantage in the third but the Lutes scored five of the next six to escape with another 26-24 win to secure the sweep.
Claire Hindman had a trio of kills in the Lutes' late push with Hetzler sealing the win with an ace.
Thomas finished with 11 kills while Johnson added nine. Evaro tallied 33 assists in the nightcap while Hetzler had four aces and a match-high 14 digs.
The Lutes are back on the court tomorrow at 9 a.m. with a showdown with host University of Puget Sound. PLU closes the tournament later in the day with a rematch with either Salve Regina or Benedictine.
