TACOMA, Wash. — The Pacific Lutheran University volleyball squad is peaking at the right time. The Lutes ripped off their seventh consecutive win on Friday night, dazzling the home crowd inside Olson Gymnasium with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-22) sweep of Whitman College to remain in the hunt for a share of the Northwest Conference title.

The Lutes (14-8, 12-3 NWC) can land a share of the 2025 NWC crown if they beat Whitworth University tomorrow night on Senior Day and Whitman takes down University of Puget Sound, forcing a three-way tie between PLU, Whitworth, and Puget Sound. 

Friday's game was a bit of revenge for the Lutes who were swept 3-0 by the Blues back on Oct. 11 in Walla Walla. PLU hasn't lost since then, ripping off seven straight, including five of those games in three sets.

"What a great all-around win for us tonight. They really took it to us when we played there and so it was awesome to see the turnaround the second match of the season," said Head Coach Kevin Aoki.

"We're looking forward to honoring our three seniors tommorow night."

Homestanding PLU ripped off five straight points midway through the first set, getting a pair of kills from Je T'aime Paio to install a 13-5 lead. The Lutes would play with the lead the rest of the set with another Paio kill and a Whitman attack error giving the hosts the 25-20 win in set one.

PLU led wire-to-wire in the second set, scoring 12 of the first 15 points and collecting four of the final five points in the set in a 25-12 thrashing. 

The visiting Blues (10-12, 9-6 NWC) made the Lutes work in the third set, owning a 22-21 lead before the Lutes scored the final four points, including three kills from Shaela Allen-Greggs to seal a 25-22 victory and the sweep.

Allen-Greggs was unstoppable, racking up 18 kills on just 30 attacks, committing just one error and boasting a .567 attack percentage. Paio had a double-double of 13 kills and 12 digs while Alexis Eggert had 10 kills on 18 attacks with no errors. The offense flowed through Ayre Takamoto who had 46 of the team's 54 assists while Macy Matsushima led the defensive efforts with 24 digs while Bailey Johnson tallied 16.

Playin' free & havin' fun!

Hear from Lute setter Ayre Takamoto who had 46 assists in PLU's sweep of Whitman#GoLutes pic.twitter.com/abv9eEAvkt

— PLU Athletics (@golutes) November 8, 2025

The Lutes finish off the regular season tomorrow night, hosting Whitworth at 6 p.m. on Senior Night where the Lutes will honor Johnson, Jordan Freer, and Haley Goto in a post-match ceremony.