WHITTIER, Calif. — The Northwest Conference Tournament Champion Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team earned a split on day one in California on Friday. The Lutes fell 3-1 (22-25, 26-24, 25-5, 25-21) to host Whitter College to open the day inside the Graham Athletic Center before pouncing on University of Redlands 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-16) to finish things off.
"This morning's match was a tough one against a very good Whittier team that kept us off balance throughout the match," said Head Coach
Kevin Aoki.
"But it was great to see the team rebound in the sweep against Redlands in very hot conditions inside the gym. We have tough matches tomorrow against nationally-ranked LaVerne and Pomona-Pitzer to wind up the weekend and are excited for that challenge."
Against the host Poets (4-1), PLU (5-2) took the opening set before dropping the next three. PLU set the tone on its serves, scoring four of its first five points on aces before getting kills from
Clare Freberg and
Savanna Colliado to build a 7-3 lead. The Lutes never trailed the rest of the way, getting 25-19 set win off an
Ayre Takamoto ace.
Neither team was able to gain separation in the second set. Whittier led 24-21 before kills from Freberg and
Julissa Pernsteiner followed by a Poet setting error tied the set at 24. Unfortunately for the Lutes, Whittier tallied the next two, taking the 26-24 set win. Whittier went on a big run to close out set three 25-5, before winning the match with a 25-21 win in set four.
Alexis Eggert led the Lutes with 11 kills while
Je T'aime Paio tallied nine kills with a team-best 10 digs.
Ayre Takamoto had 24 assists to pace the Lutes while adding nine digs while the Lutes racked up 12 aces from six different players.
In set one against Redlands (0-4), the Lutes scored five of the first six points and seized an early 9-3 lead on a
Shaela Allen-Greggs kill. The lead mushroomed to 23-12 before the Bulldogs bit back, scoring nine straight to pull within two. An Eggert kill and a Allen-Greggs ace insured it wouldn't get any tighter, delivering a 25-21 set win.
The second set was tied at 10 before PLU rattled off six consecutive points. The Lutes played with a lead the rest of the set, cementing a 25-21 win on an Eggert block. PLU led wire-to-wire in the third with an Eggert kill sealing the set 25-16 in favor of the Lutes to secure the three-set sweep.
PLU was dialed in on the night, finishing with a .396 attack percentage, netting 43 kills on 91 attacks with just seven errors. The Lutes saved its best for last, hitting at a blistering .552 clip in the third set.
Allen-Greggs led the attack with a dozen kills while Eggert collected 11 along with four blocks. Takamoto finished with 24 assists while
Macy Matsushima tallied 24 digs.
PLU closes its non-conference slate tomorrow with a 12:30 p.m. showdown with 11th-ranked University of La Verne before facing Pomona-Pitzer Colleges at 5 p.m. to close out the day.
