Setting the Scene: It's a weekend of openers for the Pacific Lutheran University Athletic Department. Volleyball and football both host home openers against non-conference opponents from Canada and California, respectively, while men's golf tees off the 2025-2026 season on Saturday across the Cascades in Spokane.

FRIDAY:
VB hosts Columbia Bible (Canada) inside Olson Gymnasium (7 p.m.)
SATURDAY:
FB hosts Simpson (Calif.) at Sparks Stadium (1 p.m.)
VB hosts Alumnae Match inside Olson Gymnasium (4 p.m.)
MGOLF at Whitworth Fall Invitational in Spokane, Wash. (Indian Canyon GC)
SUNDAY:
MGOLF at Whitworth Fall Invitational in Spokane, Wash. (Indian Canyon GC)

Get with the Flo: This summer the Northwest Conference signed an exclusive five-year deal with FloSports to be the live streaming platform of the Lutes and the rest of the conference.
 
Make sure to sign up for FloSports today so you don't miss any of the action at home or on the road. Sign up today: LINK
 
PLU Fall Youth Sports Days: The Lutes have partnered with El Toro Mexican Restaurant & Cantina to host four youth sports days this fall. To get free tickets to the youth sports day for a child and a guest use promo code LutesYouthSports25 at golutes.com/tickets. The first round of Youth Sports Days happened on Sunday with the men's and women's soccer programs. 

The remaining fall dates are Sept. 13 for football, and Sept. 19 for volleyball. 

Learn more: LINK

Football: The Lutes (0-1) opened up the season on Saturday in Thousand Oaks, California, yielding a late touchdown in an 18-15 heartbreaker to rival California Lutheran University.

Darius Chaffin threw for two touchdowns, finding Connor Meade in the first quarter and connecting with Emmett Holt in the third quarter but a Cal Lu score with 3:25 remaining proved fatal on a hot SoCal day. PLU attempted a late rally but ran out of time with the ball at the Cal Lu 20-yard line.

Defensively, Micah Ragaza-Bourassa had six tackles and a sack on a day the Lutes outgained the Kingsmen 277-234.

Catch up on all the action from last weekend, including @PLUfootball's season opener and home openers for the defending NWC Champion Lute soccer teams.

This weekend both volleyball & football have their home openers!#GoLutes pic.twitter.com/kdhyeFaB5w

— PLU Athletics (@golutes) September 11, 2025

Volleyball: Pacific Lutheran (1-5) played in its second tournament in as many weeks, playing three matches in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The Lutes hung tough in the first and third sets against second-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater to open the tournament, falling 3-0 on Friday night. The Lutes led 2-1 the following morning against Concordia University (Wis.) but the Falcons squeaked out the final two sets to take the 3-2 victory. PLU closed the tournament with a 3-0 setback to Elmhurst College.

Ayre Takamoto headlined the tournament for the Lutes, earning a spot on the All-Tournament squad for the second consecutive week. 

Men's Golf: The Lutes begin their fall season on Saturday in Spokane, competing at the two-day Whitworth Fall Invitational. Pacific Lutheran has a veteran squad with eight returners from a season ago from a team that finished 

Men's Soccer: PLU (1-3) experienced mixed results in its first home games of the 2025 season. The Lutes struck first on Friday with a highlight reel goal from Ty Brunner in the 18th minute but visiting Wheaton College answered with two goals early in the second half to steal a 2-1 victory.

On Sunday, Landon Sexton and Mike Murega both scored goals and Lute keeper Chris Jamrok made eight saves against his former team in a 2-1 victory over University of California-Santa Cruz.

Jamrock finished the weekend with 10 total saves and on Monday was tabbed Northwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career.
 
Women's Soccer: Pacific Lutheran (0-2-2) tackled a pair of tough opponents to open its 2025 home slate, facing two NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago. A goal in the 83rd minute sabotaged the Lutes on Friday against California Lutheran University, giving PLU its first setback at East Field since 2023, before coming up short 1-0 against 19th-ranked Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Sunday.

Lute netminder Abby Winkler had a busy weekend in goal, making 18 saves across the two games and on Monday was tabbed NWC Defensive Player of the Week for the seventh time in her decorated PLU career.

Both the men and women take the weekend off before opening their NWC title defense on Sept. 20 against George Fox University.

Cross Country: The Lutes had last weekend off, having last competed on August 30 at the season opening Puget Sound Invitational. This weekend PLU again has the weekend off but will be making an appearance at the football home opener, running the game ball over 10 miles from the PLU campus to Sparks Stadium.

Download the GoLutes App: Stay connected to your favorite teams by downloading the official mobile app of the Pacific Lutheran University Athletic Department powered by SIDEARM Sports, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gamely details and more, the PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.

Link to download on Google Play: LINK

Link to download on Apple App Store: LINK