TACOMA, Wash. — Three Lutes had double digit kills on Friday afternoon as the Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team opened up the 2025 campaign with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 17-25, 25-14) victory over Southwestern University (Texas) at the Puget Sound Premiere hosted at the University of Puget Sound's Memorial Fieldhouse. 
 
"It was a great first match against a very good opponent," said Head Coach Kevin Aoki.
 
"It's always nice to play well in your opening match and I thought we hit for a high percentage due to our on-spot serving and passing."

The Pirates (0-1) came out of the gate swing, scoring eight of the first 11 points in the opening set before staking a 10-4 advantage. The Lutes (1-0) answered with 12 of the next 14, part of a greater 19-6 run to seize a 23-16 edge after a pair of aces from Macy Mulipola. PLU never looked back with a Julissa Pernsteiner kill cementing a 25-20 set win.

PLU tallied the first five points of the second set and eight of the first 10. The Pirates would tie the set at 20 and it would remain a nailbiter the rest of the wat, tied at 21 and 23 before a Southwestern service error followed by a Pirate attack error gave PLU the 25-23 victory.  
 
Southwestern staved off a sweep in the third set with a 25-17 victory but couldn't handle the Lutes in the fourth with PLU collecting a dominating 25-14 win to secure the match. 
 
Alexis Eggert was dialed in with 16 kills, boasting a .342 attack percentage while also contributing six blocks. Shaela Allen-Greggs had 12 kills on 29 attacks while Pernsteiner had 10 kills. Ayre Takamoto had 38 of the Lutes' 44 assists while Macy Matsushima had 16 digs. Savanna Colliado chipped in 12 digs while Bailey Johnson and Madi Mulipola each had 10. Mulipola also had four aces with Colliado adding three.

The Lutes are back on the court tomorrow, squaring off against Gustavus Adolphus College at noon before closing the tournament at 6 p.m. with a showdown against the host Loggers.