The Pacific volleyball team dropped a 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 decision to a hot-hitting Multnomah squad on Tuesday evening in Portland.

The host Lions (4-5) hit a blistering .296 in the win with Miranda Halverson and Patty Batoon leading the attack with 15 and 11 kills, respectively.
 
The Boxers (3-4) recorded a .196 hitting percentage in the loss with Karlee Duncan and Tiare Kaopua anchoring the lineup with 11 and nine kills, respectively. Earlier in the day, Kaopua was recognized as the Northwest Conference Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week after her performance at last week's Austin College Classic in Sherman, Texas.
 
Despite the hot-hitting Multnomah attack, Pacific managed to keep it close throughout the match. In the opening set, the two teams were tied on seven occasions before a kill by Batoon and a setting error led the host Lions to the 25-23 victory. In the set, Multnomah hit .318 compared to .205 for Pacific.
 
In the second set, the Lions built an early 11-3 lead before a resilient Pacific squad came back to within two on five occasions. Multnomah took advantage of a 13-10 advantage in kills to go along with a .243 hitting percentage to .105 for the Boxers.
 
As indicative of the match, the third set was just as tightly contested as the previous two sets. The two teams went back and forth until the Lions built a cushion and would not let the Boxers creep any closer than two points. The Boxers recorded a .211 hitting percentage – its highest on the night – in the set with 14 kills compared to a .318 hitting percentage and 14 kills for the Lions en route to the win.
 
After seven-straight matches to open the 2016 season, the Boxers will open up its home portion of the schedule on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. in a contest against New Hope Christian College.