SPOKANE, Wash. – Cassidy Franklin had 10 kills and five blocks to lead Whitworth to a 23-25, 25-15, 25-13, 25-20 win over visiting Pacific (Ore.) in a Northwest Conference women's volleyball match on Friday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Despite playing without 2021 NWC Player of the Year Maddie Lee, the Pirates (12-3 overall, 6-1 NWC) held on to first place in the league standings. 

The Boxers (7-6, 3-4), playing without head coach Kip Yoshimura, came out inspired in the opening set.  Pacific hit .345 in that game to jump ahead in the match.  The opening set featured 12 ties and five lead changes before the Boxers scored the final two points on a Whitworth serving error and a Pacific service ace.

From there it was all Pirates.  Whitworth finished the match with a .306 hitting percentage.

"We were a little hesitant at the outset and we didn't pass well," said Pirate head coach Kati Bodecker.  "We adjusted to playing without Maddie, and we adjusted our defense, which helped fuel our offense in the final three sets."

The Bucs hit .370 in the second set and broke away early.  Franklin sparked Whitworth's turnaround with three kills and four blocks (two solo, two assists) in the second game.  Abigail Hudson was in on three blocks as well. 

The Pirates jumped ahead 5-0 in the third set and never trailed.  An Ella Jimenez service ace increased the lead to 10-4 and her kill made it 18-9.  Whitworth won the set on a Pacific ball handling error.  Jimenez finished the set with two kills and two aces.

The Pirates had to play much of the fourth set without libero Eva Millan and Pacific took advantage, going ahead 9-3 on a kill by Mara Murphy.  Millan returned and Whitworth responded with a 9-2 run for a 12-11 lead.  But the Boxers fought back in front and still led 17-16 on another kill from Murphy.  The Pirates took control with a 7-1 run and ended the match on a Boxer error.

Megan Lange (26) and Joel Forbes (16) combined for 42 assists to spark the offensive output.

"We had a specific game plan to attack Pacific tonight and our setters executed that plan really well," Bodecker said.

Jaye Hodge finished with a match-high 12 kills for the Bucs, while Logan Spencer joined Franklin with ten.  Franklin hit .500 in the match while Spencer hit .474.  Millan finished with 20 digs.

Pacific's hitting percentage dropped way off to .076 after the blistering start.  Murphy, the NWC leader in kills and points, had 10 kills and 14 points for the Boxers. 

Whitworth will close out the first half of the NWC schedule at home against Linfield on Saturday.