Lewis & Clark College

SPOKANE, Wash. – Lewis & Clark College volleyball fell to Whitworth University 25-13, 25-16, 25-22 in a Northwest Conference road match Saturday night at Whitworth Fieldhouse.
 
THE BASICS
 
Whitworth 3, Lewis & Clark 0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-22)
(Lewis & Clark 4-6, 1-2 NWC)
(Whitworth 7-2, 1-1 NWC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Five River Otters recorded three kills apiece. Senior Isabel Meleán-Williams, junior Morgan Armitage, first-year Skyler Staab, senior Ruby Kuerschner and first-year Lexi Musselwhite each finished with three kills. Kuerschner hit .333 on six attempts, while Musselwhite hit .286 on seven. Senior Kaitlyn Jensen added two kills.
 
Kuerschner distributed a team-high 13 assists. Sophomore libero Coco Otto led the defense with seven digs, while Kuerschner added five. Izzy Faulkner served two aces, and Lewis & Clark finished with eight aces as a team.
 
The River Otters scored the first two points of the opening set, including a kill from Kuerschner. Whitworth answered with seven consecutive points to take a 7-2 lead. Lewis & Clark cut the deficit to 10-8 on kills from Musselwhite and Kuerschner, but the Pirates extended their lead to 14-8. Meleán-Williams, sophomore Ariah Potts and Jensen added kills before Whitworth closed out a 25-13 win.
 
Staab opened the second set with a kill. Lewis & Clark later erased a 7-4 deficit with three consecutive points, including kills from Staab and Armitage. The teams played through seven ties, and the River Otters took a 12-11 lead on a Kuerschner kill. Whitworth responded with six consecutive points and finished the set on a 14-4 run for a 25-16 win.
 
Whitworth scored the first five points of the third set before Lewis & Clark responded. Staab started the run with a kill, and Faulkner followed with an ace. The River Otters later scored four consecutive points during senior Ainsley Mochrie's service turn to take an 8-7 lead.
 
The teams traded the lead through the middle of the set. Armitage's kill gave Lewis & Clark a 16-15 advantage before Whitworth scored four consecutive points. The Pirates led 23-17 when the River Otters answered with five straight points. Two Whitworth attack errors and a Kuerschner ace cut the deficit to 23-22. Whitworth won the final two rallies to secure the set and match.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Kuerschner is 18 assists shy of 1,500 for her career.
• The third set included eight ties and six lead changes.
• Whitworth held a 3-0 edge in total team blocks.

 
WHO'S NEXT
 
Lewis & Clark travels to Linfield University for a 6 p.m. Northwest Conference match Saturday, Sept. 26, in McMinnville, Ore.