TACOMA, Wash. — A big day at the service line proved the difference maker for the Pacific Lutheran University volleyball squad in its home opener on Friday night, outlasting Columbia Bible College (Canada) 3-2 (25-13, 21-25, 25-13, 23-25, 15-6) inside Olson Gymnasium.
"This was a great way to start our first home match," said Head Coach
Kevin Aoki. "I thought we really served the ball wall tonight and it was awesome that everyone saw some action tonight."
PLU (2-5) never trailed in the opening set.
Savanna Colliado set the tone with a pair of aces surrounded by a
Samia Rudd kill to secure an early 3-0 advantage. The visiting Bearcats (0-1) tied the set at four before the Lutes ripped off the next seven points to build an 11-4 edge. The Lutes would enjoy a healthy gap the rest of the set with an
Alexis Eggert kill cementing a 25-13 victory.
Columbia Bible didn't make it easy, roaring out to a 12-5 advantage and scoring the final three points of the set to level the match with a 25-21 win. The third set was deadlocked at four before the Lutes scored the next nine, getting three aces from Eggert. PLU was in the driver's seat the rest of the set, inching ahead with a 25-13 set win.
The fourth set was a back and forth affair with CBC squeaking out the 25-23 win to force a fifth set. The Bearcats tallied three of the first four points but it was all Lutes after that, closing on a 14-3 run, with
Julissa Pernsteiner scoring kills for the final three points in a 15-6 thrashing to win the match in five.
Pernsteiner led the Lutes with 13 kills while Eggert had nine with a .318 attack percentage.
Ayre Takamoto had 27 assists and eight digs while
Macy Matsushima collected a team-best 18 digs.
Bailey Johnson was dialed in on the serve with six aces along with 14 digs. Eggert tallied four aces while
Savanna Colliado and
Madi Mulipola had three each. All told eight different Lutes had a service ace with the squad racking up 21 on the evening.
PLU begins Northwest Conference play next Friday, hosting Lewis & Clark College at 7 p.m. inside Olson Gymnasium.
