TACOMA, Wash. — Northwest Conference Champion Pacific Lutheran University didn't disappoint in the first ever NWC Tournament match on Friday evening inside Olson Gymnasium.
Halle Hetzler set the school single season digs record as the top-seeded Lutes slammed fourth-seeded Willamette University 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-23) in front of the home crowd to net their 17th straight win and punch a ticket to tomorrow's NWC Tournament Championship.
"It was a great atmosphere for our team to perform in front of. The home crowd was electric and to get the first win in the inaugural NWC volleyball tournament is special. We're not done yet and we're looking forward to tomorrow's match," said Head Coach
Kevin Aoki.
The visiting Bearcats (14-10) rattled off five of the matches opening six points but the homestanding Lutes answered with a pair of aces from
Makenna Jackson and a pair of kills from
Elle Thomas to take an 8-6 advantage. Willamette retook the lead at 10-9 and again at 11-10 but PLU (18-7) proved to be too much down the stretch, scoring eight of the sets final 10 points including a set clinching kill from
Baylee Johnson for the 25-17 victory.
Willamette tallied the first two points of the second set but it was all Lutes after that, ripping off eight of the next 10. The Bearcats closed to within two at 11-9 but the Lutes outscored the four-seed 14-4 to secure the 25-13 set win.
The third set was a tied at 22 before an
Alexis Eggert kill, a
Baylee Johnson ace, and a Thomas kill closed the books on Willamette 25-23 to punch a ticket to tomorrow's NWC Tournament Championship match.
Thomas closed the match with 10 kills while
Claire Hindman posted nine kills with a .350 attack percentage.
Olivia Evaro accounted for 33 of the Lutes' 40 assists while Jackson had three of the squad's eight aces on the evening.
Hetzler etched her name in the record book again. The all-time digs record holder snagged the single season record on Friday after collecting a match-high 28 in the win. With 644 on the season, the senior eclipses the previous mark held by Amber Aguiar (642 digs) since the 2014 season.
The Lutes are back on the court tomorrow afternoon, facing either George Fox University or Whitworth University. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.
