SPOKANE, Wash. — Ticket punched.
The third-seeded Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team won the Northwest Conference Tournament title for the second time in three years on Saturday night, dethroning top-seed and host Whitworth University 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-18) to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Tournament.
The Lutes (16-9) dropped the opening set but won the next three, returning to the NCAA Championships for the 14th time in program history and first time since 2023.
"Incredible performance by our young women," said Head Coach
Kevin Aoki.
"To come in as the third seed and beat both co-champions in two days, plus Whitworth on its home court says something about our team."
The first set was tied at 10 before the NWC regular season champion Pirates (21-7) scored eight of the next 11. Whitworth would continue to put its foot on the gas, scoring the final four points for a 25-17 set victory.
The host Pirates headed into the second set having won seven of the eight sets played this season between the two teams after sweeping the Lutes 3-0 back on Oct. 10 and winning 3-1 last Saturday. A spark midway through the second set made sure the same thing wouldn't happen for the third time.
A
Je T'aime Paio kill tied the set at 6-6 and kicked off a 5-0 Lute run, getting a kill from
Julissa Pernsteiner and a pair of aces from
Ayre Takamoto. Whitworth battled back, tying the set at 17 and later pushing ahead 21-19, but another Paio kill sparked a run of four straight Lute points, including a kill and a block from Pernsteiner. PLU led the rest of the set with a Whitworth error giving the Lutes the 25-23 set win.
Pacific Lutheran surged to an early 4-1 lead in the third, but it wouldn't be that easy. Four straight points tilted the scales 10-9 in favor of the Pirates later in the set. Kills from
Shaela Allen-Greggs and
Bailey Johnson swung the lead back to the Lutes who never looked back, getting a clinching kill from
Alexis Eggert to hand the underdog Lutes a 25-21 victory.
Whitworth scored the first three points and held an 11-7 lead in the fourth set before PLU rattled off seven straight points to surge into the lead. A Pernsteiner kill started the rally before getting an ace from Paio and a pair of kills from
Clare Freberg.
The score would be tied at 16 and again at 17 before PLU scored eight of the final nine points, including the last five to seize a 25-18 set win to capture the third annual NWC Tournament. Paio was instrumental in that final run, scoring the final three points of the match with a trio of kills.
Paio led the team with a career-high 14 kills while also adding 11 digs while Allen-Greggs had 13 kills, boasting a .314 attack percentage. Pernsteiner was the third Lute with double digit kills, netting 11 on the night along with four blocks.
Ayre Takamoto had 31 of the team's 35 assists and added 17 digs while
Macy Matsushima led the defensive efforts with 19 digs.
The Lutes will learn where and who they play in the NCAA Tournament on Monday when the official bracket is unveiled on NCAA.com at 10 a.m. (Pacific Time). It will be Pacific Lutheran's 14th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since the 2023 season. All 14 appearances have come under the tenure of Head Coach
Kevin Aoki who has guided the squad to 12 NWC regular season titles, two NWC Tournament titles, and has PLU as the only program to make it to the NWC Tournament finals every year of its existence.
