TACOMA, Wash. — 19 Lutes saw the court on Saturday evening as the Northwest Conference leading Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team dismantled Lewis & Clark College 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-20) inside Olson Gymnasium to remain perfect in league play.
The Lutes (9-7, 8-0 NWC) sit atop the conference standings courtesy of an eight match win streak that has seen PLU concede just three of its 27 sets played, including winning five matches in straight sets.
"This was a great way to end the first round of conference play. Now we know the other teams will be getting after us in the 2nd round so we must continue to improve," said Head Coach
Kevin Aoki.
The visiting Pioneers (6-10, 1-7 NWC) got off to a fast start, collecting four of the matches opening five points. Lewis & Clark tried to hang around but the Lutes proved to be too much to handle, ripping off 14 of the sets final 19 points to secure the 25-16 victory in set one.
PLU led wire-to-wire in set two, scoring eight of the first 10 points. A
Camryn Kelly ace and a
Kailee Efros-Bohn kill closed up the set 25-15 in favor of the hosts.
Lewis & Clark battled in the third set. A 7-1 run by the Lutes turned a 16-16 tie into a 23-17 Lute advantage that saw a pair of aces from
Torie Takeuchi and a pair of kills from
Camryn Kelly. The Pios attempted to close the gap but an attack error handed the Lutes a 25-20 victory to wrap up the match in straight sets.
Baylee Johnson led the Lutes with 11 kills with nine coming from
Claire Hindman and four more from
Alexis Eggert.
Olivia Evaro had 29 assists and 10 digs while Takeuchi and
Makenna Jackson had a trio of service aces.
Halle Hetzler once again led the team in digs with 24 with Takeuchi adding 11.
PLU hits the road next week with a Thursday clash in Forest Grove, Oregon against Pacific University.Â
