WALLA WALLA, Wash. — The Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team experienced mixed results on Friday at the Whitman Invitational to open up the 2024 season. Claire Hindman was dialed in for the opener, matching a career-high with 17 kills in a 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 17-25, 25-12) victory over Clarkson University before the Lutes fell short 3-2 (18-25, 25-17, 25-22, 21-25, 15-8) to the University of California Santa Cruz in the nightcap. 
 
"It was a very productive day for the team today despite dropping the second match to Santa Cruz," said Head Coach Kevin Aoki who sits just eight wins shy of 500 for his career.
 
"We did things well and also showed what we need to improve on going forward. Five set matches are good for learning this early in the season."
 
The opening set against Clarkson (0-1) was a nailbiter early before five straight kills tipped the scales 14-8 in favor of the Lutes (1-1), including a pair of kills from Callie Simmonds. The Golden Knights whittled the gap to just three late in the set before PLU tallied the next three points, including a Makenna Jackson ace to seal a 25-19 set win.
 
Clarkson netted four of the first five points of the second set only to see the Lutes answer with four straight, including a pair of kills from Claire Hindman. PLU wouldn't trail the rest of the set with a Hindman block giving the Lutes the 25-18 victory.
 
The tide turned in the third set. With the score knotted at 10 before Clarkston scored four straight and five of the next six. The New York based squad would play with the lead the rest of the set, avoiding the sweep with the 25-17 set win. 
 
Set four was tied at five before PLU ripped off six straight points and 12 of the next 14, breezing to the 25-12 set win to wrap up the match.
 
Claire Hindman was dialed in during the opener, finishing with 17 kills and 10 digs with a .324 attack percentage. Callie Simmonds and Shaela Allen-Greggs both added eight kills. The Lute offensive attack ran through Ayre Takamoto who had 41 assists and 14 digs in her Lute debut while Makenna Jackson had a match-high 30 digs. Macy Matsushima added 13 digs in her first match in the black and gold while Savanna Colliado finished with 10 digs.
 
Against UC Santa Cruz, the Lutes led wire-to-wire to win the opening set. PLU tallied the first five points of the match and nine of the first 11. An Allen-Greggs kill swelled the Lute edge to 23-14. The Banana Slugs (1-1) crept back into the set before a Hindman kill gave PLU the 25-18 set win.
 
UC Santa Cruz leveled the match at one by winning set two 25-17, before scoring eight of the final 10 points in the third to prevail 25-22.
 
PLU utilized a 6-0 run in the fourth set to take an early 9-5 advantage and played with the lead the rest of the way with a Simmonds kill giving the Lutes the 25-21 to force a decisive fifth set.
 
The final set was tied at five but the Banana Slugs would pull away, scoring 10 of the final 13 points, including the final four points, prevailing 15-8 to sneak out the win. 
 
Haley Goto was dialed in against the Slugs, collecting nine kills with a .400 attack percentage. Simmonds, Hindman, and Allen-Greggs all finished with eight kills. Takamoto had 30 assists while Jackson led the defensive efforts with 11 digs.
 
The Lutes are back in action tomorrow, facing University of Redlands at 10 a.m. and host Whitman College at 2 p.m. 

To follow Lutes coverage all season long, please follow us on social media; PLU Athletics on Facebook, @GoLutes on X.com and Instagram.