SAN ANTONIO – The Whitworth volleyball team lost twice on Saturday at the Trinity National Invitational, falling to Texas Lutheran in a five-set marathon and then losing to Birmingham Southern in four sets.

The Pirates (1-3) will return to action next weekend at the LaVerne/Whittier Invitational in Southern California.

Texas Lutheran 3, Whitworth 2 – The Pirates played the longest fifth set in their history, falling to the Bulldogs 21-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23 despite 21 kills and three blocks by Ella Jimenez.

The longest previous fifth set was 18-16, which had occurred three times in school history.

Whitworth won the opening set thanks to a .296 hitting percentage.  The Bucs led 21-17 in the second set but could not close it out as TLU finished on an 8-2 run.  The third set was almost a repeat of the second after Whitworth gave up a 22-18 lead.  After the Bulldogs tied it, Whitworth closed on a 3-1 run, capped by Kaity Barr's kill.

TLU jumped to an 8-4 lead in the fourth set and led 23-15 before the Pirates rallied to within 23-20.  But the Bulldogs scored the final two points to end the run.

The fifth set was full of drama.  Playing to 15, Whitworth opened with an 8-4 lead, but TLU went on a 10-3 run to go ahead 14-11 with three match points.  The Bucs scored three straight points to tie the set at 14, and then the teams traded leads six times the rest of the way.  The Bulldogs got the final three points of the match to finally pull out the win.

Jimenez finished with 22.5 points with 21 kills and three block assists.  Barr added 14.5 points with seven kills, five service aces and five block assists.  Amblessed Okemgbo added 13 kills.  Mya Rodriguez had 34 assists, while Josephine Thompson dished 17. 

Brylie Need led TLU with 19 kills.

Birmingham Southern 3, Whitworth 1 – Perhaps drained by the drama and length of the previous match, the Pirates fell to the Panthers 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22.

Whitworth had only 41 kills and 59 total points in the match, the team's lowest outputs of the tournament. 

Jimenez was the only Pirate player in double figures in points (12) with 11 kills and one solo block.  Barr had five kills, two aces and four block assists (nine points), while Okemgbo added seven kills, one solo block and two block assists (nine points).  Rodriguez dished 20 assists and Thompson added 12. 

Sydney Bixby led BSC with 15 kills.