WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Lewis & Clark College volleyball fell to Whitman College 25-14, 25-19, 25-14 in a Northwest Conference road match Friday night at Sherwood Center.
THE BASICS
Whitman 3, Lewis & Clark 0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-14)
(Lewis & Clark 4-5, 1-1 NWC)
(Whitman 3-4, 1-0 NWC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior
Kaitlyn Jensen led the River Otters with eight kills on 18 attempts while hitting .278. Fellow senior
Isabel Meleán-Williams finished with seven kills and two errors on 13 attempts for a team-best .385 hitting percentage.
First-year
Skyler Staab recorded three kills on four attempts, while first-year
Lexi Musselwhite added four kills and junior
Morgan Armitage finished with two. Senior
HB Schuett recorded Lewis & Clark's lone service ace and added one solo block and one block assist.
Senior
Ruby Kuerschner distributed a team-high 13 assists, and first-year
Abbi Sanchez added six. Sophomore libero
Coco Otto led the defense with 10 digs.
Whitman scored the first five points of the opening set before Lewis & Clark cut the deficit to 11-8. Jensen recorded three kills during the River Otters' response. Lewis & Clark later pulled within 16-13 on another Jensen kill, but Whitman scored eight consecutive points to reach set point before closing out a 25-14 win.
Lewis & Clark scored first in the second set on a Jensen kill, and the teams traded points through a 2-2 tie. Whitman moved ahead 11-5 before the River Otters answered with four consecutive points. A Schuett block and Jensen kill cut the deficit to 11-9. The Blues extended their lead to 24-14, but Meleán-Williams served during a five-point Lewis & Clark run that made it 24-19. Whitman won the next point to take the set 25-19.
The third set was tied 5-5 before Whitman scored six of the next eight points to take an 11-7 lead. Lewis & Clark cut the margin to 12-11 on consecutive kills by Meleán-Williams and Musselwhite. The Blues responded with four straight points and later used a six-point run to extend their lead to 22-13 before completing the sweep with a 25-14 third-set win.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Whitman hit .313 for the match; Lewis & Clark hit .130.
- The River Otters produced their best offensive set in the second, recording nine kills with two errors on 20 attempts for a .350 hitting percentage.
- Whitman recorded 12 service aces and four total blocks. Lewis & Clark finished with one ace and two total blocks.
WHO'S NEXT
The River Otters travel to Spokane, Washington, on Saturday for a 6 p.m. match against Whitworth.
