Heavy Hitting, Solid Blocking Gives Volleyball Road Win

Heavy Hitting, Solid Blocking Gives Volleyball Road Win

Bookmark and Share

Box Score

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Pacific used another strong hitting night from Una Areta (Fr., Kent, Wash.) and a pair of impressive blocking performances from Mariah McHolland (Sr., Renton, Wash.) and Emily Farnham (So., University Place, Wash.) to take the first match of their eastern Washington road trip Friday, beating Whitman in five sets, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 19-25, 15-13, in Northwest Conference volleyball action at the Sherwood Center.
 
Areta put together her fourth double-double of the season, leading the Boxers with 16 kills and 15 digs.  McHolland was equally as impressive, finishing with 12 kills to go along with seven of the Boxers' 12 blocks.  Farnham, the Boxers' starting setter, also notched a double-double of 37 assists and 11 digs while also leaping for five block assists.
 
The Boxers (6-12, 5-6 NWC) ended a three-match losing streak by hitting .125 on the night.  After hitting .075 in the first and second sets, Pacific improved to hit .280 in the deciding frame.
 
Jillian Davis led Whitman with an impressive double-double of 25 kills and 18 digs while Hannah Linsenmayer added 35 digs.  The Missionaries (6-18, 4-7 NWC) dropped their second straight and their seventh in their last eight matches despite hitting .153 as a team.
 
Pacific vaulted out to a 9-6 lead in the opening set thanks in part to four early Whitman attack errors and made it a 14-8 lead on a bad set.  The Missionaries rallied to take a 19-17 lead on Linsenmayer's service ace and were ahead 22-20 when Pacific capitalized on three Whitman errors to steal lead and the set by a 25-22 final.
 
The Missionaries streaked out to a 4-1 lead in the second set and went up 10-4 on a Pacific service error.  Whitman kept the heat on, building to a 20-13 lead on a block by Natalia Zea and Megan Bafus.  The Boxers would close back to within 22-17 on Hannah Herbert's (So., Hillsboro, Ore.) kill, but the Missionaries held tight for the 25-19 win.
 
Pacific pulled away from a close start in the third set with an eight-point run midway through the frame.  The Boxers scored three of their points on blocks, with McHolland contributing on all three, for a 17-10 advantage.  Much like the first set, Whitman battled back to take a 21-20 lead on Abby Seethoff's service before a pair of Hannah Smargiassi (So., Tualatin, Ore.) blocks fued a final four-point run for the 25-23 Pacific win.
 
Whitman never trailed in the fourth set, opening up a 7-2 on Davis' kill and then a 21-14 advantage on a series of three Davis' service aces.  The advantage held as the Missionaries took the 25-19 victory to force a fifth set.
 
The Missionaries held an 8-4 lead in the fifth before a pair of Pacific runs swung the momentum for good.  An Areta kill sparked a five-point run, which included two Herbert kills, that gave the Boxers a 9-8 lead.  Farnham then added a kill, which started a four-point run to give Pacific a two-point lead that proved to be the winning margin.
 
Pacific wraps up the road trip on Saturday, taking on Whitworth in Spokane, Wash., beginning at 5 p.m.
Print Friendly Version