TACOMA, Wash. — The reigning Northwest Conference Tournament Champion Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team showed why they're the preseason favorites, rolling George Fox University 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-18) in the conference opener on Friday night inside Olson Gymnasium.
"It was a great way to start the NWC season getting a three-set sweep," said Head Coach
Kevin Aoki.
"We look to be one percent better each time we go out on the court and we really loved the support from the home fans tonight."
The visiting Bruins (2-7, 0-2 NWC) delivered the first punch of the night, scoring the first five points of the match but the Lutes (8-2, 1-0 NWC) came alive with an
Alexis Eggert kill breaking up the run as PLU scored 25 of the final 32 points of the set, including eight of the last nine. A
Je T'aime Paio ace closed set one 25-12 in favor of the hosts.
Set two was tied at 10 before the Lutes scored five straight, getting kills from both Eggert and
Ayre Takamoto off the serve of
Macy Matsushima. PLU led the rest of the way, prevailing 25-20.
George Fox held an early lead in the third and held a 17-14 edge before the Lutes scored eight straight and 11 of the next 12 with a Paio kill delivering the 25-18 win for the three-set sweep.
Eggert led the Lute attack with 10 kills and a .381 hitting percentage while
Shaela Allen-Greggs had nine kills on 18 attacks with a .444 hitting percentage. Takamoto tallied 31 of PLU's 35 assists while defensively Paio had 18 digs with
Savanna Colliado and Matsushima each adding 10.
The Lutes resume their opening NWC homestand on Saturday with a 6 p.m. showdown against Pacific University.
