Setting the Scene: It's on to the postseason for the Pacific Lutheran University volleyball and cross country teams. The volleyball squad heads across town as the number three seed in the 2026 Northwest Conference Tournament while the Lute harriers head to Spokane for the NCAA Division III West Region Championships.

Football closes its season on the road at George Fox University, women's rowing caps off the fall by hosting the annual PLU Fall Fixture, while men's and women's hoops hit the road with the men heading to Portland and the women to Texas.

FRIDAY:
VB vs. Whitworth at NWC Tournament in Tacoma, Wash. (4:30 p.m.)
WBB at Austin in Sherman, Texas (7 p.m. Central)
SATURDAY:
WROW hosts PLU Fall Fixture on American Lake (8:45 a.m.)
XC at NCAA Division III West Region Championships in Spokane, Wash. (11 a.m.)
FB at George Fox in Newberg, Ore. (1 p.m.)
WBB at U of Dallas in Irving, Texas (3 p.m. Central)
MBB at Warner Pacific in Portland, Ore. (4 p.m.)
VB at NWC Tournament in Tacoma, Wash. (6 p.m.)
WEDNESDAY:
WBB at Seattle U (Exhibition) in Seattle, Wash. (11 a.m.)

Get with the Flo: Last 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

Students in Free!: PLU students will get free admission to this weekend's NWC Volleyball Tournament hosted at the University of Puget Sound. The Lutes play at 4:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon at Memorial Fieldhouse against two seed Whitworth University and if they win would face either top seed and host Puget Sound or fourth seed Whitman College on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Salute to Veterans: The PLU women's rowing team teamed up with the Wounded Warrior Project and hosted a Learn to Row clinic on Nov. 3 on American Lake for Army personnel from Joint Base Lewis McChord. Learn more here: LINK

Volleyball: The Lutes (19-6, 12-4 NWC) make the short trip north to Puget Sound for the 2026 NWC Tournament. PLU is the No. 3 seed in the fourth edition of the postseason event. The Lutes have won the tourney twice (2023 and 2025) and have made the NWC Tournament finals every year.

Pacific Lutheran closed the season in eastern Washington. The Lutes fell 3-0 to Whitman last Friday night before edging Whitworth 3-1 on Saturday, a win that shifted the tournament from Spokane to Tacoma. The two NWC juggernauts will meet again on Friday in the NWC Tourney semifinals.

The NWC announced its All-Conference Team on Monday afternoon with five Lutes making the cut. Alexis Eggert and Ayre Takamoto were named First Team All-NWC while Macy Matsushima was Second Team All-League. Shaela Allen-Greggs and Julissa Pernsteiner both earned Third Team All-Conference.  

AVCA Battles Won Award Finalist: Learn more about PLU's Je T'aime Paio who is a finalist for the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Battles Won Award after overcoming a shark bite last August. Read more here: LINK

Men's Basketball: PLU (2-0) is off to a fast start, opening the season at home last weekend and securing a pair of wins.

The Lutes erased a 14-point first half deficit on Friday night against Azusa Pacific University (Calif.), rallying to the 88-82 win. Spearheading the charge was Noah Gathings who dropped 26 points with eight assists and seven rebounds in his PLU debut.
Gathings was at it again the next night, scoring 18, including the game-winning three with 22 seconds left in a 79-78 victory over Augsburg University (Minn.).

For his efforts, Gathings was named the NWC Player of the Week on Monday.

Men's Swimming: Pacific Lutheran secured its first dual meet win of the season on Friday night, overpowering host Willamette University 129-86 in Salem at the Sparks Pool.

The Lutes won nine events on the night with Vyron Domingo part of three of those wins. Domingo was on the winning 200-yard medley relay team to start the meet, clocking a winning effort of one minute, 38.54 seconds.

Domingo later won the 100-yard backstroke (54.08) and 200-yard backstroke (1:59.95).

Women's Basketball: The Lutes (1-1) split a pair of home games to open the 2026-2027 season over the weekend. Pacific Lutheran erased a 15-point deficit to earn an 80-72 victory in the opener on Friday against Warner Pacific University (Ore.). Kylie Griffin stole the show in the win, dropping 31 points with 11 rebounds while Brooke Chisholm had 13 points in her Lute debut.

PLU came up short two days later against Howard Payne University (Texas), falling 70-54 on a day the visiting Yellow Jackets made it to the free throw line 31 times. Kate Wooten led the way with 15 points with Griffin adding 13.

On Monday Griffin was tabbed the NWC Player of the Week, averaging a league best 22.0 points per game over the weekend.

Men's Soccer: Head Coach John Yorke won his 300th career game on Saturday, a 3-0 road victory over Whitworth University but came up short the next day against Whitman College with the NWC title on the line, succumbing 3-0 to the Blues.

Ty Brunner scored twice in Saturday's win, including in the 11th and 64th minutes, goals sandwiched around a 42nd minute score from Landon Sexton.

The following day saw the Blues score three goals over a 15 minute window in the first half to give Whitman the NWC title and a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

PLU wrapped up the season in second place with a 12-3-5 overall record and a 10-2-4 mark in conference play.

Women's Swimming: Harper Canessa led the Lutes on Friday in their dual meet with Willamette, winning three events. Canessa's efforts weren't enough for PLU to claim the victory however, falling 127-104 to the host Bearcats.

Canessa was on the winning 200-yard medley relay (1:53.89) to open the meet while also winning the 100-yard breaststroke (1:11.92) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:39.77).

The Lutes take the weekend off before closing the semester at the Bruin Invitational on Nov. 21 and 22.

Football: Pacific Lutheran (3-6, 2-4 NWC) wrapped up its home schedule on Saturday, stumbling 46-31 to Lewis & Clark College at Sparks Stadium.

PLU struck first with Dallas So'oto scrambling for a 39-yard touchdown but the River Otters scored 39 of the next 48 points to earn the win. L&C did most of the damage on the ground, racking up 243 rushing yards on the day.
 
So'oto threw two touchdowns and ran for another with Dayton Savea finishing with seven receptions for 116 yards and a score.

Women's Soccer: The Lutes (11-5-4, 9-4-3 NWC) capped off the season over the weekend, finishing third in the conference standings.

PLU fell 1-0 to Whitworth on Saturday, despite outshooting the Pirates 18-7 with a similar script unfolding the next day at Whitman. PLU outshot the Blues 10-8 but again fell short 1-0.
 
Liv Olson led the Lutes with six goals on the season while Mia Speir started 19 of the 20 games in goal and finished with a 0.79 goals against average, posting 10 shutouts on the season.

Women's Cross Country: The Lutes trek to Spokane this weekend for the NCAA West Region Championships. It will be a familiar course for the Lutes, having competed on the same layout at the Frank Knott Classic back on Oct. 3.

The Lutes last competed on Oct. 31, finishing sixth at the NWC Championships in Independence, Oregon.

First-year Ellie Norris led the charge at the conference meet, placing 24th after finishing the 6,000-meter race in 23:20.0. Jessalyn Robles was the next Lute finisher in 34th place (23:51.0).

Women's Rowing: On Saturday PLU concludes its fall racing season, hosting Seattle Pacific University and boathouse rival Puget Sound at the PLU Fall Fixture on American Lake. The Lutes will race two varsity eight boats, two varsity four boats, and a novice eight boat over the course of the morning of racing.

PLU last competed on Nov. 1 at the University of Washington's Head of the Lake. That regatta saw the varsity four place fifth in their race and the third varsity eight placing seventh. 

Men's Cross Country: Pacific Lutheran will be sending just two student-athletes to the NCAA West Region Championships on the men's side in Noah Friedrich and Justin Garrett.

The Lutes finished ninth at the NWC Meet back on Halloween with Friedrich clocking an 8K season-best time of 26:38.3 to place 50th while Garrett was 59th in a personal best 27:02.9.

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