By: Katelyn McLean
FOREST GROVE, Ore.—Maddie Lee's twenty kills helped Whitworth survive a strong presence at the net from Pacific's (Ore.) Mara Murphy and Elika Unti in five sets to remain unbeaten in Northwest conference play.
The Pirates won 25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 15-10 to move to 15-2 overall and 10-0 in the NWC. Pacific falls to 5-10 overall and 3-5 in NWC play.
Kaity Barr and Maddie Lee led the offensive attack for Whitworth in the first set, hitting around Unti's block. The Pirates had four service aces in the first set alone. Lee notched two, and Joelle Forbes and Kaitlyn White each had one. The Pirates hit .268 and scored the last seven points of the frame after trailing 21-18. White served the final six points.
The second frame contained thirteen ties and five lead changes. Whitworth led 6-4 early, but a six-point Pacific run containing back-to-back Haley Walz service aces put the Boxers in front 9-6. The Pirates returned the favor with a four-point run led by Abigail Hudson to go in front 11-10. A six-point run by the Pirates with Lee kills and a Barr service ace put them up 23-19. Cassidy Franklin sealed the set with a kill and a block assist. Whitworth hit a team best .581 in the stanza.
The Boxers trailed in the third set until a six-point scoring run propelled them to an 11-8 lead, and they never trailed for the rest of the set. Unti recorded three block assists, and she and Murphy kept the Whitworth defense on their toes. Pacific recorded four service aces in the third frame.
The fourth game was an intense hitting battle. The Pirates recorded twelve kills as a team in the set, and the Boxers notched sixteen as a team. Whitworth had six hitting errors, and Pacific had four. Each team also recorded three service errors in the set, which often shifted the offensive momentum. Unti and Alison Brown capped off the set for the Boxers with two kills to take the match to a fifth set.
The teams traded errors in the fifth frame. Whitworth scored seven points from Pacific errors, and the Boxers tallied three points from Pirate errors. Jaye Hodge recorded the last two kills for the Pirates to take the match.
Murphy had twenty kills and two service aces. Unti had twelve kills, three service aces, one solo block, and five block assists. Brown had seventeen kills and one block assist.
Lee had twenty kills, three service aces, and seventeen digs. Franklin had sixteen kills and two block assists, and Barr finished with fourteen kills, a service ace, and two block assists. Libero Eva Milan notched twenty-five digs in the victory.
Both teams combined for a total of seventeen service aces in the match.
Whitworth returns to the Fieldhouse on Oct. 22 at 7pm against Linfield.
