SPOKANE, Wash. – The match, and the entire season, was on the brink. The Whitworth Pirates were facing match point in the third set against visiting Puget Sound, facing a second straight sweep at the hands of the Loggers, and facing virtual elimination from the chase for the Northwest Conference volleyball crown.
Instead the Bucs (13-5 overall, 7-3 NWC) found a way to rally for a 22-25, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-12 reverse sweep of Puget Sound on Saturday night to move into a first place tie with the Loggers (10-8, 7-3).
"Tonight's win does speak to the resiliency of this team," said Whitworth head coach Kati Bodecker. "But it also speaks to how talented we are. We have been in a funk dealing with injuries that affect our lineup. We had to regain our confidence in why we are good. I think we found that tonight."
Maddie Lee posted a match-high 20.5 points for Whitworth to lead all players. She had 14 kills, three aces and seven block assists to account for that point total.
Whitworth jumped out 4-1 in the first set after a kill from Ella Jimenez. Puget Sound fought back to tie the set 7-7 on a block from Sara Olsson. The Pirates went back ahead 12-7 on one of Lee's service aces. Trailing 16-13, the Loggers used a 9-1 run to take control at 23-19. The Bucs fought within 23-22, but consecutive attack errors ended the set in Puget Sound's favor. The Loggers had five blocks in the first game.
The second set played out in similar fashion. Whitworth took a 12-8 lead on a kill from Jimenez, forcing a timeout. The Pirates still led 15-12 when the Loggers went on an 8-0 run, including two kills and two blocks from Avery Alleman, to go up 20-15. Olsson's kill ended the set in Puget Sound's favor. The Loggers hit .378 in the second game.
Puget Sound appeared ready to complete the sweep when another Olsson kill made it 18-14 in the visitors' favor in the third game. Whitworth came back to tie the set 23-23 on a kill by Jimenez, but the Loggers got a kill from Katelyn Chekian to set up match point at 24-23. Lee answered with a kill, Cassidy Franklin and Abigail Hudson combined for a block, and the final UPS attack went wide, allowing Whitworth to stay alive and win the third set.
The Pirates took the momentum into the fourth set, the only game that did not feature any ties or lead changes. After jumping ahead 6-1, Whitworth went up 14-5 on a kill by Amblessed Okemgbo. The Bucs reached set point at 24-17 before UPS made things interesting with three straight points. But a Logger service error ended the set in Whitworth's favor.
The Pirates found themselves down again 8-6 at the changeover in the fifth set. Still they did not panic.
"We were working hard trying not to let one bad point impact the next play," Bodecker said. "We are confident because we've already proven this season that we can come from behind."
Whitworth answered with a 6-1 run, taking a 12-9 lead after a Logger attack error. Jimenez had a kill and a block in that run. Franklin's kill set up match point at 14-12 and the last Logger attack went into the net, giving the Pirates the win.
Jimenez finished with 14 kills and three block assists for Whitworth, while Jaye Hodge had a dozen kills. Franklin finished with nine kills and seven blocks (one solo, six assists) for 13 points. Eva Millan led the defensive effort with 27 digs. Joelle Forbes (27) and Megan Lange (22) combined for 49 of Whitworth's 54 assists. Forbes served four of Whitworth's season-high 11 service aces.
Alleman led Puget Sound with 16 points on 10 kills, nine blocks (one solo, eight assists) and one ace. Maddie Klopcic added 11 kills and four blocks (one solo, three assists) for 13.5 points.
Whitworth will return to action on Wednesday night at hard-charging Whitman College. The Blues knocked off Pacific Lutheran in five sets on Saturday night.
