Setting the Scene: Winter sports shift into high gear with swimming and men's basketball competing at home this weekend. Volleyball and cross country both competed on the road in the postseason with volleyball in Spokane at the Northwest Conference Tournament and cross country in California for the NCAA West Region Championships. Over in Puyallup, football will finish off the season against George Fox University in a battle for third place in the conference standings.
FRIDAY:
VB vs. Puget Sound in Spokane at NWC Tournament (4:30 p.m.)
SWIM hosts Willamette at PLU Pool (6 p.m.)
MBB hosts Pomona-Pitzer inside Olson Gymnasium (6 p.m.)
SATURDAY:
Men's XC at NCAA West Region Championships in Claremont, Calif. (9 a.m.)
Women's XC at NCAA West Region Championships in Claremont, Calif. (10 a.m.)
SWIM hosts Linfield at PLU Pool (11 a.m.)
FB hosts George Fox at Sparks Stadium (1 p.m.)
VB at NWC Tournament (6 p.m.)
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Volleyball: The Lutes (14-9, 12-4 NWC) charge into the NWC Tournament having won seven of its last eight matches.
PLU swept Whitman College 3-0 last Friday night inside Olson Gymnasium, a match that saw
Shaela Allen-Greggs finish with 18 kills and a .567 attack percentage. The following night the Lutes took the opening set but NWC Champion Whitworth University snuck away with the next three set wins to send the Lutes' their first home defeat in over a year.
Saturday's match saw the program's three seniors being honored who helped the Lutes go 51-13 in NWC play over the past four seasons and own a 32-4 record inside Olson Gymnasium.
On Monday, the NWC announced its All-Conference winners with
Ayre Takamoto and
Macy Matsushima earning Second Team All-NWC while Allen-Greggs and
Alexis Eggert secured Third Team All-Conference.
Women's Soccer: Pacific Lutheran (12-2-6, 12-0-4 NWC) hoisted its ninth consecutive NWC title on Sunday, earning a pair of shutouts over the weekend to close out the season.
Liv Olson scored in the ninth minute in Saturday's 1-0 victory over Whitworth while the Lutes got two goals from
Ally Tattar the following day in a 3-0 victory over Whitman to clinch a share of the title.
Abby Winkler racked up 10 saves over the weekend and on Monday was tabbed NWC Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this fall.
Unfortunately for the Lutes, University of Puget Sound earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on a tiebreaker of goal differential.
Olson finished the year as the NWC leader in both goals (10) and game-winning goals (five) and sits second in the league in points (21).
Kiana Gutierrez led the league in assists with seven while Winkler paced the league in both goals against average 0.355, saves (92), and save percentage (92.9).
Men's Soccer: The Lutes (13-4-3, 12-1-3 NWC) closed out the 2025 campaign with a weekend split, snapping the squad's 16-game unbeaten streak. The Lutes defeated Whitworth 2-1 on Saturday afternoon, getting the game winner on a
Misha Turchaninov on a penalty kick in the 84th minute setting up a Sunday showdown with Whitman for the NWC title.
Owen Bliskis scored on a penalty kick in the 24th minute but the visiting Blues quickly answered to tie the game and added two goals in the opening three minutes of the second half to claim the 3-1 victory and spoil PLU's chance for a third straight league title.
The high-octane Lutes led the league in scoring with 52 goals on the season with Bliskis leading the conference in goals (14) and
Connor O'Brien leading the conference in assists (11).
Football: The Lutes (5-4, 4-2 NWC) scored on offense, defense, and special teams last Saturday, sprinting past host Lewis & Clark College 46-36 in Portland.
PLU's first 17 points came from the defense and special teams.
Brock Kinch blocked the game's opening punt and returned it for a touchdown while
Connor Meade opened the second quarter with a punt return touchdown. The Lute defense got a safety in the first quarter and a pick-six from
Jackson Hale in the second.
Offensively,
Anthony Mahaffey threw three touchdowns on the day to three different targets.
PLU finishes off the season on Saturday with the winner securing third place in the conference standings.
Women's Swimming: Pacific Lutheran improved to 2-0 in dual meets with a 162-98 victory over Lewis & Clark on Saturday at the PLU Pool. The Lutes were simply dominant on the day, winning 10 of the 14 events.
Scout Hawkins won a pair of individual events, prevailing in the 1,000-yard freestyle in 11 minutes 52.22 seconds and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:40.07) while the Lutes won both the 400-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Men's Swimming: Vyron Domingo won three events, powering the Lutes to a 142-103 dual meet victory over Lewis & Clark. Domingo took top billing as a member of the 400-yard medley relay (3:37.75) while also notching wins in the 50-yard backstroke (25.23) and 200-yard individual medley (1:59.51).
Women's Rowing: PLU closed out the fall racing season on Saturday, hosting the Fall Fixture on American Lake.
PLU's varsity eight boat finished runner-up in its race with coxswain
Louisa Compton navigating the Lutes down the three mile course in 11:51.3, finishing 15 seconds ahead of boathouse rival Puget Sound.
PLU's varsity four boat won its race, finishing in 12:55.5 and enjoying a 37-second cushion on Seattle Pacific University. The Lutes will be idle until early March, hosting the PLU Invite back on American Lake.
Men's Basketball: Dom Perasso had a breakout weekend, averaging 19.0 points per game and securing NWC Player of the Week, but it wasn't enough to get a pair of wins for the Lutes (0-2) in California.
PLU began the season on Saturday against sixth-ranked University of Redlands. The Lutes held a 13-point lead in the first half but was unable to sustain it, getting edged 94-91 by the Bulldogs.
Ben Tellez was electric against the nationally-ranked foe, draining six threes and finishing with 30 points.
The following day saw the host University of California Santa Cruz pull away in the second half with the Banana Slugs prevailing 87-75 despite a career-high 21 points from Perasso.
Now back from California, the Lutes will get to enjoy the comforts of home with their next 11 games all being played in Washington State.
Women's Basketball: PLU (0-3) opened the lid on the 2025-2026 season in California, dropping a trio of games against Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) schools.
PLU held Whittier College to shooting just 34.3 percent from the field in last Friday's opener but a sluggish third quarter provided a window for the Poets to earn separation and a 59-47 victory.
Kylie Griffin had a career-high 14 points the following day as the Lutes fell 83-47 to Redlands while
Kate Wooten led the scoring charge on Monday in a 93-47 defeat at the hands of Chapman University.
The Lutes take this weekend off before hosting Corban University next Friday in the home opener.
Men's Cross Country: The Lutes head to California for Saturday's NCAA Division III West Region Championships. The team last competed on Nov. 1, placing eighth as a team at the 2025 NWC Championships held at the PLU Meadows Course.
Kai Sorensen capitalized on the home turf advantage, placing 14th overall to land Third Team All-NWC honors after finishing the waterlogged 8,000-meter course in 26:17.44.
Women's Cross Country: Pacific Lutheran is back after a two week hiatus, as it competes at the West Region meet. The Lutes hosted and finished seventh at the NWC Championships with three individuals placing in the top 50.
Sal Mattivi led the way, finishing the 6,000-meter race in 24:45.26 to place 30th overall while
Maddie Mitchell and
Rachel Rosario finished back-to-back in 48th and 49th overall.
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