TACOMA, Wash. — It was a battle of Northwest Conference juggernauts on Tuesday night inside Olson Gymnasium. The host Pacific Lutheran University volleyball team entered the night as the reigning NWC Tournament Champions and preseason favorites, riding a five match win streak. Crosstown rival University of Puget Sound came into the showdown as the reigning NWC Co-Champions and on a five match tear. When the dust settled, it was the Lutes alone at the top of the standings, rolling past the Loggers 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 20-25, 25-17).
Pacific Lutheran (10-2, 3-0 NWC) was on fire to start the match, scoring the first three points and five of the first six for a wire-to-wire 25-14 set win. The Lutes surged to a 15-5 lead courtesy of a
Samia Rudd kill while a block from Rudd and
Julissa Pernsteiner sealed the first set in favor of the home squad.
Puget Sound (5-6, 2-1 NWC) led 5-2 early in the second but the Lutes battled back, taking a 7-5 lead on a
Macy Matsushima ace. PLU never trailed the rest of the set with a Pernsteiner kill delivering a 25-18 win.
The Loggers stole set three 25-20 to avoid the sweep, taking the set 25-20. It was the first set in conference play the Lutes failed to win after earning 3-0 sweeps over both George Fox University and Pacific University over the weekend.
PLU scored seven of the first 10 in the fourth set en route to a 25-17 set win, extending the program's home winning streak over the Loggers to 11 straight, a streak stretching back to 2017.
"The Lutes played very well against a very good Puget Sound team. It was a total team effort and in my 31 years as the head coach, it was one of the most electric atmospheres we've had inside Olson Gym. The team would like to thank all the fans that came out, especially the students that came to support us," said Head Coach
Kevin Aoki.
Shaela Allen-Greggs and
Je T'aime Paio both finished with 10 kills with Paio also collecting 14 digs on the night.
Alexis Eggert had nine kills while Pernsteiner added eight along with four blocks.
Ayre Takamoto tallied 40 of PLU's 46 assists while grabbing 14 digs while Matsushima had a dozen digs and three aces.
The Lutes are back on the court on Saturday, opening a three-match road swing in Salem, Oregon against Willamette University.
