Setting the Scene: It will be a busy weekend in Luteville with six Pacific Lutheran University athletic programs in action at home over the weekend. Volleyball and the men's and women's soccer teams open Northwest Conference play at home while football welcomes a nationally-ranked opponent from Texas to Sparks Stadium to close out the non-conference slate. Men's and women's cross country hosts the PLU Invitational on Saturday, the first of two home meets while women's golf tees off the 2025 fall season on Monday in nearby DuPont.

FRIDAY:
VB hosts Lewis & Clark inside Olson Gymnasium (7 p.m.)
SATURDAY:
WXC hosts PLU Invitational at PLU Meadows (11:10 a.m.)
MXC hosts PLU Invitational at PLU Meadows (11:45 a.m.)
FB hosts #23 Trinity at Sparks Stadium (12 p.m.)
WSOC hosts George Fox at East Field (12 p.m.)
MSOC hosts George Fox at East Field (2:45 p.m.)
VB hosts George Fox inside Olson Gymnasium (6 p.m.)
SUNDAY:
WSOC hosts Lewis & Clark at East Field (12 p.m.)
MSOC hosts Lewis & Clark at East Field (2:45 p.m.)
MONDAY:
WGOLF at Grisham Memorial in DuPont, Wash. (The Home Course)
TUESDAY:
WGOLF at Grisham Memorial in DuPont, Wash. (The Home Course)
VB at Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. (7 p.m.)
WEDNESDAY:
WSOC hosts Puget Sound at East Field (4 p.m.)
MSOC hosts Puget Sound at East Field (6:30 p.m.)

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 Sept. 7 with the men's and women's soccer programs followed by another one hosted by football on Sept. 13.

The remaining fall date is this Friday's volleyball match.

Learn more: LINK

Lutes Care:  The PLU Athletic Department will be donating 25 percent of all ticket sales for Saturday's football game between the Lutes and Trinity University (Texas) to the Kellyanne Elizabeth Lytal Memorial Foundation.
 
Kellyanne is the daughter of Trinity offensive coordinator Wade Lytal and passed away in the tragic flood at Camp Mystic on July 4, 2025, a catastrophe that claimed the lives of 27 individuals. The Kellyanne Elizabeth Lytal Memorial Foundation supports meaningful philanthropic efforts that reflect Kellaynne's kind spirit and ensures that her light continues to shine brightly in the world. 

Learn more: LINK

Football: The Lutes (1-1) returned the opening kick for a touchdown and scored two more touchdowns in the first quarter, steamrolling Simpson University (Calif.) 42-16 in the team's home opener at Sparks Stadium.

Connor Meade ran the opening kick back 90 yards for a score, his second opening kickoff TD of his career. Darius Chaffin threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another with AJ Stepina finishing with 121 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

PLU's secondary kept the Red Hawks in check, allowing just 149 passing yards on the day and no completion longer than 18 yards.

All-Star Attaways: Connor Meade won a pair of awards for his special teams play on Saturday. On Monday he was tabbed the Northwest Conference Special Teams Player of the Week before earning a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week as a return specialist the following day. 

Volleyball: Pacific Lutheran (2-5) racked up 21 aces in Friday's home opener at Olson Gymnasium, outlasting Columbia Bible College (Canada) in five sets.

Bailey Johnson was one of eight Lutes to collect an ace on the night, finishing with six along with 14 digs. Julissa Pernsteiner led the offense with 13 kills while Alexis Eggert had nine with a .318 attack percentage while also serving up four aces.

Macy Matsushima heads into conference play ranked second in the league in digs per set, averaging 4.4 per set. 

Home Sweet Home: Friday's win brings PLU's record inside Olson Gymnasium to 19-1 since the start of the 2023 season. Overall, the Lutes boast a 57-9 mark at home since the start of 2017.

2? home openers ??????
2? home victories????

Check out all the highlights below ????#GoLutes pic.twitter.com/uO2DLu0yVs

— PLU Athletics (@golutes) September 17, 2025

 
Men's Golf: The Lutes opened up the fall season on Sunday and Monday finishing fifth at the Whitworth Fall Invitational at the Indian Canyon Golf Course.

Pacific Lutheran was consistent across both rounds, shooting a 297 both days. The Lutes' team tally of 594 was 11 strokes behind league rival Linfield University. 

Luke Butler was the top Lute at the event, finishing eighth overall with a 144. Butler had a hot start to the season, shooting a one-under 70 on Sunday before shooting a 74 on Monday. Soren Bostrom was 19th with a 150 (77-73) with Geo Pirrie 22nd with a 151 (73-78).
 
Men's Cross Country: The Lutes will compete in their second meet of the season this weekend and their first crack at the eight kilometer distance, hosting 16 schools at the PLU Invitational. 

PLU opened the year back on August 30, racing a short 5K course at Fort Steilacoom at the Puget Sound Invitational. The Lutes placed third as a team scoring 66 points.

Kai Sorensen led the way, clocking a time of 15 minutes, 56.2 seconds while Noah Friedrich was 10th overall in 16:18.1.

Women's Cross Country: A fresh face led the way in the season opener in late August, powering Pacific Lutheran to a third place finish at the Puget Sound Invitational.
 
Maddie Mitchell led the Lutes in her collegiate debut, cruising around the 5K course in 20:49.8 to place 15thoverall. Jessalyn Robles was close behind in 18th (21:00.6) with Rachel Rosario, Natalie Moran-Padilla, and Mariel Robles all finishing inside the top 25.

Both the women's and men's squads have been training hard since the season opener, including running the game ball from campus to Sparks Stadium for the football home opener last weekend, a journey of more than 10 miles.
 
Women's Soccer: The eight-time defending NWC Champion Lutes (0-2-2) open their title defense this weekend with a pair of Oregon schools coming to East Field. 
The Lutes had a rugged non-conference schedule, playing three NCAA Tournament teams and two nationally-ranked squads. The squad had last weekend off but was last in action on Sept. 5 and 7, dropping 1-0 games to both California Lutheran University and 19th-ranked Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.

Kiana Gutierrez and Liv Olson are the two goal scorers for the Lutes this season while Abby Winkler has been a brick wall in goal, making 32 saves across the opening four games. 

Men's Soccer: The two-time defending conference champion Lutes (1-3) close open their title defense this weekend, continuing a five game homestand. 

PLU split its opening home games of the season, scoring early but falling 2-1 to Wheaton College (Ill.) in the first home game of the season back on Sept. 5 before rebounding with a 2-1 win over University of California-Santa Cruz two days later. 

Mike Murega was the hero against the Banana Slugs, scoring the eventual game winner in the 69th minute with Quinn Bieber notching the assist.  

Chris Jamrock came up big in goal against his former team, netting eight saves.

Women's Golf: Pacific Lutheran opens its season on Monday, competing at the Grisham Memorial hosted by Saint Martin's University at The Home Course.

This year's squad features two returners— Emily Alicea and Kathleen Pullin— in addition to a first-year in Jessica Doiguchi from Hawaii Baptist Academy and Bellevue College transfer Kate Sabarillo. 

Learn more about the 2025-2026 squad in our season preview: LINK

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