SPOKANE, Wash. — Alexis Eggert had 19 kills, powering the third-seeded Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team to a nailbiting 3-2 (26-24, 22-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-12) victory over second-seeded University of Puget Sound in the Northwest Conference Tournament Semifinals inside Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Lutes (15-9), winners of eight of the last nine, advance to the NWC Tournament Finals for the third consecutive season where they will battle host and top-seeded Whitworth University for the league's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Tournament.Â
"Wow, just wow. It's just amazing to stay the course and just play with so much grit. This team doesn't want their season to end and we're so excited to be in our third straight NWC Tournament Championship match," said Head Coach
Kevin Aoki.
PLU never trailed in the first set, getting two kills to start the match from
Shaela Allen-Greggs and roaring out to a 3-0 lead. A
Je T'aime Paio and
Julissa Pernsteiner block put the Lutes up 21-16 but the feisty Loggers (18-8) battled back, using a 5-1 run to knot the score at 24. An Eggert kill followed by a bad set by the Loggers allowed PLU to take the set 26-24.
The second set was tied at 21 before the higher-seeded Loggers scored four of the final five points, walking away with the 25-22 win to level the match. NWC Co-Champion Puget Sound squeaked past the Lutes 25-23 in the third set, getting a clinching kill from Skya Favor.Â
Pacific Lutheran conceded six of the first seven points in the fourth set but regrouped, scoring six straight to take a 14-9 lead. The Lutes never looked back with an Allen-Greggs kill cementing a 25-17 win to force a deciding fifth set.
Puget Sound scored the first two points in the fifth but the Lutes stormed back with four in a row to take the lead. The Tacoma rivals traded leads before two Logger errors and a
Savanna Colliado kill put the Lutes up 11-8. Puget Sound scored the next three to tie the set but a Paio kill touched off a 4-1 Lute run to end the set with a pair of Allen-Greggs kills  capping the run and delivering the 15-12 win for PLU.
Eggert had a career-high 19 kills, boasting a .311 attack percentage while Allen-Greggs jad 16 kills. Paio added nine along with 18 digs. The offense ran through
Ayre Takamoto who had 41 of the team's 48 assists while also leading the squad with 20 digs.
Bailey Johnson added 17 digs while
Macy Matsushima and Colliado added 16 and 12, respectively.Â
The Lutes will gun for their first NWC Tournament title since 2023 tomorrow evening with first serve set for 6 p.m.
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