Boxers' Hitting Slowed By Lewis & Clark In Four-Set Loss
Box Score
PORTLAND, Ore. – A night after they defeated No. 16 Puget Sound with solid hitting and pulling through close sets, Pacific found both hard to come by as the Boxers fell to Lewis & Clark in four sets, 25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 25-17, in Northwest Conference volleyball action at the Pamplin Sports Center.
The Boxers (8-5, 2-2 NWC) hit just .078 for the march and committed 29 attack errors in the contest, which limited the team's ability to get over the top in close sets in the first and second frames. Lewis & Clark (6-8, 2-2 NWC) hit .108 for the match, but managed 11 more kills than the Boxers.
Kelsy Takashima (Sr., Kaunakakai, Hawaii) and
Alexa Block (Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) each had 12 kills in the loss to lead the Boxers. Block added 23 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Malea Webb (Fr., Spokane, Wash.) finished with 19 assists.
Jade Thompson (Jr., Marysville, Wash.) finished with 37 digs, setting a Pacific single match record for digs in a four-set block. The former record was 33, set by Nettie Witheridge against Cal State East Bay in 2005. Thompson's effort led a Pacific team single match record for digs in a four-set match with 109, beating the former mark of 105 set against Willamette in 2001.
Jennifer Dowdy led the Pioneers with 18 kills while Kataleya Milan added 15 kills. Leia Matsunaga notched 39 assists and Elena Hoff had 33 digs.
After winning the first point of the match, the Boxers would never see the lead again in the opening set. Lewis & Clark jumped out to a 7-2 lead on a kill by Milan. Block brought the Boxers back to within 7-5, but three attack errors fueled a six-point run that put the Pioneers back up 13-5. Pacific would eventually come back to within 23-21 on Thompson's service ace, but kills by Dowdy and Margaret Dowling closed things out for the Pioneers.
Lewis & Clark appeared headed to a second set rout, using a string of four straight service aces from Dowling to build an 11-4 lead. The Pioneers then returned the favor, committing six consecutive errors to tie the set at 11-11.
Gabriela Vega's (Fr., Spokane, Wash.) kill gave Pacific a 13-12 lead and Webb's spike accounted for a 15-13 advantage, but the Boxers could never shake the home team.
The Pioneers pulled away from a 20-20 tie to take a two-point lead on a kill by Brigitte Russo. The Boxers used two attack errors to tie it again at 22-22 before two more Pacific errors sealed the set for the Pioneers.
Pacific trailed early in the third set, but used a string of six straight winners, buoyed by two kills each from Takashima and
Haley Bedell (Fr., Bothell, Wash.), to take a 12-7 lead. The Pioneers would eventually come back to within one point at 16-15 and tied things at 19-19 on a Pacific ball handling error, but kills by Bedell and Takashima late secured the lead and the win.
Lewis & Clark pulled away early in the fourth set and never let Pacific back in. The Pioneers built an 11-6 lead on Dowdy's kill before the Boxers pulled back to within one point, 15-14, on an attack error. Pacific got no closer as L&C pushed the lead back to 18-15 on a service error and proceeded to win six of the final seven rallies of the match.
Pacific returns to action next Friday as they play at George Fox. Match time is 7 p.m.
