SPOKANE, Wash. – Ella Jimenez pounded 15 kills and hit .500 to lead Whitworth to a sweep of visiting Willamette in the Northwest Conference volleyball opener for both teams on Friday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.
The Pirates (4-5 overall, 1-0 NWC) hit .337 as a team to defeat the Bearcats (5-3, 0-1) 25-22, 25-18, 25-17.
The teams traded points through the majority of the opening set. There were several ties, the final coming at 13-13 after a kill by Willamette's Sydney Locke. Whitworth led 19-18 when a 4-1 run gave the Pirates some separation. Jimenez had three kills in that run. Cassidy Franklin's kill ended the frame for Whitworth. Both teams hit well in the first set as the Bearcats converted .296 while the Bucs hit .448. Jimenez had six kills in the opening set, while Syd Bowen had four for Willamette.
The Bearcats jumped to an early lead in the second set, going up 8-4 on a Pirate attack error and 10-6 after a Whitworth service error. Trailing 11-7, the Pirates used an 8-2 run to take the lead 15-13. Leading 19-17, the Pirates closed the set on a 6-1 run, started and ended by kills from Jimenez. Whitworth hit .345 in the second set while holding Willamette to -.065.
The Pirates never trailed in the final set after opening a 5-0 lead, including two more Jimenez kills. The lead went to 16-9 on a kill from Kaity Barr and reached 22-13 after a kill from setter Mya Rodriguez. Josephine Thompson, the Bucs' other setter, had the match-winning attack.
Jimenez had only two errors in 26 attempts for her .500 hitting percentage. She added one ace and a block assist for a match-high 16.5 points. Barr finished with 11.0 points on six kills, three service aces, one solo block and two block assists. Cassidy Franklin had seven kills for the Bucs. Rodriguez (16) and Thompson (11) combined for 27 assists.
Bowen led Willamette with nine kills, accounting for all of her team-high points. Emma Porter had 21 assists and Shyla Sato had 12 digs.
Whitworth will host Lewis & Clark (5-4 overall, 0-1 NWC) on Saturday night.
