The Pacific University volleyball team quickly defeated Willamette, 25-16, 25-18, 25-15 to begin the final home weekend of the season on Friday night at the Stoller Center in Forest Grove.

The Boxers (14-11, 8-7 NWC) equal the 2007 squad with the most wins since Pacific became a NCAA Division III member. The effort by Pacific was led by sophomore Morgan Mendicino (San Diego, Calif.), who had a match-high 11 kills to lead a squad that hit at a .265 clip. The .265 hitting percentage is the highest by Pacific since they hit .291 in a four-set win over Linfield on October 1. Mendicino had six kills in the second set for Pacific, who had double-digit kills for the fifth time on the season.
 
The Bearcats (7-16, 5-10 NWC) struggled in the match as they were limited to an .034 hitting percentage in the defeat. Alexa Dowdell and Lauren Stiles each had five kills, plus libero Kaylen Higa had a match-high 24 digs in the loss.
 
Mendicino was not alone in the act for the Boxers, freshman Bailey Servoss (Mount Vernon, Wash.) and freshman Karlee Duncan (Bend, Ore.) had eight and seven kills, respectively. Setter Jamie Steach (Pasco, Wash.) spread the attack in the win with 35 assists, plus four Boxers had double digit digs including libero Lia Zablan (Ewa Beach, Hawaii), who had 20. To supplement its potent hitting percentage, the Boxers had six service aces.

Next, the three seniors for Pacific – Tiare Kaopua (Nankuli, Hawaii), Jamie Steach and Lia Zablan -  will be recognized prior to its match against Pacific Lutheran on Saturday at 5 p.m.