McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Visiting Whitworth survived a spirited comeback attempt from Linfield, but hung tough in the face of mounting pressure to defeat the Wildcats in five sets on Friday night in a Northwest Conference volleyball match at Ted Wilson Gym.
The Pirates (10-4 overall, 4-0 NWC) got 15 kills from Alyssa Baird to stave off the Wildcats (3-4, 1-1 NWC) 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 26-28, 15-12.
Whitworth broke away from a 7-7 tie in the opening set with an 8-2 run, including consecutive kills by Amblessed Okemgbo, to move ahead 15-9. Linfield answered with a 9-3 run of its own to retie the match 18-18 on a block from Katelyn Mawdsley and Cam Coughlin. The Pirates then closed on a 7-1 spurt, getting the winning point on a Wildcat error. Okemgbo had seven kills in her first eight attacks of the match.
Whitworth never trailed in the second set, opening an 8-3 lead on a kill from Lindsey Short. Linfield battled back to tie the set 15-15 before the Bucs outscored the Wildcats 7-2 to go ahead 22-17 on a kill by Baird. Baird's final kill of the game ended it in Whitworth's favor and she had four in the set.
The third set featured seven ties and three lead changes. The Pirates went up 10-7 on a kill by Lauren Kremer before Linfield went on a 5-0 run to take the lead. The Wildcats led 23-20, but Whitworth tied the game 23-23 on a kill by Short and Josephine Thompson's ace. Linfield scored the final two points on a service error and a kill from Madison Millard.
The Pirates appeared poised to put the match away in four sets after opening a 21-13 lead after consecutive Wildcat errors. But Linfield clawed back and survived four match points after Whitworth went ahead 24-20 and two more when the Bucs led 25-24 and 26-25. The Wildcats got the final three points of the set on three Whitworth attack errors.
Despite the stumble, the Pirates came out strong in the fifth set, opening a 6-2 lead on a kill by Paige Mckenzie. Linfield tied the set 6-6 and 7-7 before the Bucs scored four straight points to go ahead 11-7. Whitworth led 13-9 when Linfield used a 3-0 run to get within 13-12. Kremer steadied her team with a kill and Linfield's final attack went wide.
Okemgbo added 14 kills in the match, but her attack cooled after the first set and she had 11 errors thanks to several Wildcat blocks. Kremer finished with 11 kills and three block assists. Thompson (25) and Mya Rodriguez (23) combined for 48 assists. Bryanna Dodson led the team with three aces and Olivia Paul had 20 digs.
The match may have been won behind the service line where Whitworth had a 9-6 edge in aces and had only seven service errors to Linfield's 12.
Nora Myre had 18 kills for the Wildcats while Lani Taliloa chipped in 16 kills. Millard was in on nine of Linfield's season-high 16 team blocks.
Whitworth will return to Oregon next weekend for contests at Lewis & Clark and George Fox.
