Nationally Ranked Lutes Block Their Way Past Boxers
Box Score
TACOMA, Wash. – Two nights after Pacific won thanks to exceptional blocking, it was league leading Pacific Lutheran coming up with the big night at the net as the No. 15 ranked Lutes knocked off the Boxers in three sets, 25-16, 25-14, 25-19, in Northwest Conference volleyball action at Olson Auditorium.
The Lutes (18-4, 12-1 NWC) took one step closer to securing the NWC title and earned Kevin Aoki his 300th victory as Pacific Lutheran head coach by coming alive for 14 blocks while hitting .180 for the match. Pacific (10-12, 9-5 NWC) never got much going in the way of offense, hitting -.076 for the match.
Mariah McHolland (Jr., Renton, Wash.) led the Boxers with seven kills and three blocks.
Tiana Greenhalgh (Fr., Yucaipa, Calif.) finished with six kills.
Emily Farnham (Fr., University Place, Wash.) had 18 assists and
Becky Sheller (Fr., Gresham, Ore.) notched 23 digs.
Chelsea Nelson led the Lutes with nine kills and 18 digs. Haley Urdahl, Amy Wooten and Bethany Huston each finished with six kills while Brianne Vincent had 23 assists. Huston led the way at the net with eight blocks and Becca Holtgeerts had six.
In the first set, Pacific took a brief lead at 3-2 on consecutive kills by McHolland, but once the Lutes got the lead at 4-3 they continued to add to it. Wooten's kill made it 11-4 in favor of the home team, and when Holtgeerts put one away PLU led 16-6. McHolland's kill got her team going on a brief run that saw the Boxers eventually close to within 19-13 on a combined block by
Hannah Herbert (Fr., Hillsboro, Ore.) and McHolland.
Huston returned momentum to PLU's side with a kill, and later finishes by Wooten and Nelson led to the eventual nine-point win in the first set. The Lutes had four team blocks in the first set, which gave Pacific a -.019 attack percentage.
Though the score was tied a three times early, the Lutes never trailed in rolling to the second set victory. Kills by Brianne Vincent and Urdahl and Nelson's service ace put the Lutes on top 6-3, and when Huston and Holtgeerts combined on their fourth block of the set, the score was 16-6. Wooten and Nelson later combined on a block, and Wooten eventually ended the set with a kill. In the second set alone the Lutes had six team blocks, and in that set they hit .308 while limiting the Boxers to -.100.
The final set was much tighter, and in fact Pacific held the lead most of the way until the Lutes finally broke away late.
Emily Farnham's dump kill gave the Boxers a 10-7 advantage, though PLU came back to tie it at 12-12 when Huston and Holtgeerts once again combined to stuff
Alexa Block at the net. Kills by
Alexa Block (Sr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) and Greenhalgh gave Pacific temporary two-point leads at 15-13 and 16-14, but five errors by the visitors over the course of a six-point run swung the momentum, and the lead, to the Lutes at 22-19. A kill by Huston, another Boxers attack error, and finally a solo block by Huston closed the set and the match.
Pacific will wrap up their 2012 season at home needing two wins to secure their second consecutive winning overall record and third place in the NWC standings. The Boxers will host Whitworth on Friday and Whitman on Saturday.
