HOLLAND, Mich. — The Northwest Conference Champion Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team saw its record-tying 19-match win streak come to a close in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday, falling 3-1 (28-26, 25-17, 17-25, 25-19) to 17th-ranked Transylvania University inside DeVos Fieldhouse. 
 
"I'd like to congratulate Transylvania on a hard fought battle. They came out on top but I want to wish them the best in the finals tomorrow night. It was a good match. We fought hard and it was an outstanding season by our team," said Head Coach Kevin Aoki.
 
Little separated the two teams in a wild opening set that featured six lead changes and 15 ties. A Baylee Johnson kill gave the Lutes (20-8) a 15-12 advantage part way through the set but the Pioneers (27-6) quickly neutralized that advantage, tying the score at 16. Another Johnson kill later in the set pushed PLU to a point away from the win at 24-23 but Transy answered to tie the set. A service error once again had the Lutes a point away from the win only to see the Pioneers once again tie the match. Eventually it was TU's Cate Scheper who would collect two straight kills to nudge the set 28-26 in favor of the Pioneers.
 
The Lutes led 3-2 early in the second set before Transylvania ripped off seven in a row to take a 9-3 lead. The Pioneers would maintain at least a four-point buffer the rest of the set, prevailing 25-17. 
 
Pacific Lutheran came out of the gate swinging in the third set, scoring the opening four points. That run included kills from Elle Thomas and Claire Hindman in addition to a Torie Takeuchi ace. The Lutes continued to put its foot on the gas, surging to a 9-2 lead. That lead quickly evaporated with Transy netting seven of the next eight to pull within a single point before tying the set at 11 and again at 12. A Hindman kill touched off a run of five straight points for the Lutes and it was clear sailing from there, with a Thomas kill clinching the set 25-17. 

"They (Transy) can hit the ball pretty well. So we said we needed to take our serves up a little bit to get them out of system. Which I think we did in the third set."
 
Transylvania tallied nine of the opening 13 points of the fourth set and maintained a lead the rest of the set, collecting the 25-19 victory to advance to the Sweet 16.
 
"We haven't been ranked all year but I think we turned some eyes on what NWC volleyball is about and what we have accomplished. Our seniors have led from day one. We had three fifth-year seniors and Torie is a true senior and it's just a special group of young women. As you can see, we never gave up. We worked hard. We battled. It's just a great group that will leave a legacy at PLU."
 
Johnson capped off her career with a team-high 17 kills while Hindman and Thomas both finished with 14. Hindman's night including a dialed in .423 attack percentage. 48 of the Lutes' 58 assists went off the hands of Olivia Evaro while also adding a dozen digs. Halle Hetzler capped off her record setting career with 15 digs while fellow senior Torie Takeuchi had 13 digs and a team-high six aces. 
 
"This team is so special. It was such an easy decision to come back for a fifth-year because of the support and community. They make practice so fun and we genuinely want to play together and look forward to playing and competing with each other every day. When you play with people you love in front of the fans that we love it makes it such a good place to be and it's something I'll always remember," said fifth-year senior Hailey Iha.
 
Hetzler closes her career with school records for both career digs (2,631) and single-season digs (710). 
 
PLU's senior class— Baylee Johnson, Torie Takeuchi, Hailey Iha, and Halle Hetzler closed their careers by winning 59 games over the past four seasons, including over 87 percent of their home games over that stretch. Super seniors Johnson, Iha, and Hetzler won 76 games over the past five years, including a dominating 57-19 record in conference play and a 34-6 record inside Olson Gymnasium. 
 
"Something special about this team that I'm going to miss is that we have this drive to get better. Whether you're playing on the court or you're just a practice player. There's something about us as a team and we really are one family. We have each other on and off the court and we really got to know each other more as people than just volleyball players. I think that's something super special and why we made it this far," said Takeuchi. 

The Lutes' 19 match win streak this fall matched a school record that was set during the 2007 season— a year that saw PLU also finish the NWC a perfect 16-0 and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.