SPOKANE, Wash. – Led by three players with double figures in kills, Whitworth University swept visiting Linfield College 25-14, 25-21, 25-23 in a Northwest Conference volleyball match on Friday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Emiko Kahler and Cassandra Mendoza had 11 kills each for the Pirates, who improved to 16-5 overall and 10-1 in the NWC.  Brenna Bruil added 10 kills and Whitworth finished with 49 kills in only three sets.  The Pirates hit .279 as Erin White dished 42 assists to direct the offensive attack.

Tiara Huffaker came off of the bench to lead the Wildcats (8-9 overall, 3-8 NWC) with eight kills and no errors, finishing with a .571 percentage. 

Whitworth rolled to an easy win in the opening set, jumping out to leads of 7-1 and 14-3 before the Wildcats had a chance to catch their breath.  Kahler had four kills in the first 14 points for the Bucs.  White finished off the set with a kill that gave Whitworth the 25-14 win.  The Pirates had 20 kills and hit .364 as a team in the opening frame.

The second set played out much differently.  Neither team led by more than two points most of the way through.  Whitworth led 20-18 before Linfield fought back to tie the set 21-21 on back-to-back kills by Huffaker.  Then the Pirates scored the final four points, including two kills by Kahler, to pull out the second stanza.

Whitworth appeared ready to run away with the final set, opening a 10-5 lead on Mendoza's kill.  But Linfield did not go away, closing to within 11-10 on Casie Gaza's service ace.  Trailing 20-17, the Wildcats used a 5-0 run to grab a 22-20 lead and appeared poised to force a fourth set.  But Whitworth ended the set with a 5-1 run, including a pair of kills by Bruil, the win the set and claim the match.

Taylor Wicht had 16 of Whitworth's 52 digs.  The Pirates finished with only two team blocks.

Darian Stedman added seven kills for Linfield.  Jamie Talbo led the 'Cats with 16 assists, while Kayla Magbaleta finished with 14 of the team's 46 digs.  Linfield finished with a team hitting percentage of .173.

Whitworth, which has a two-game lead in the NWC standings over Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran, hosts Willamette on Saturday night.  Linfield travels to Walla Walla to take on Whitman.