WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Sophomore Brynn Blickenstaff (Eagle, Idaho)
slammed down 19 kills with no attack errors as the 19th-ranked
Puget Sound Loggers improved to 4-1 in Northwest Conference play,
defeating the Whitman Missionaries, 3-1, in a NWC volleyball match
on Friday night in Walla Walla, Wash.
In the first set, the Loggers (10-3, 4-1 NWC) got off to an
early lead following two quick kills by Blickenstaff but the
Missionaries never let the Loggers build too big of a lead, even
taking the lead away from Puget Sound midway through the set.
With the score tied at 18, the Loggers won five straight points to
build an advantage before taking the 25-20 set one victory.
The Missionaries stole a set in the second frame as the Loggers
hit just .100 on 30 attacks while Whitman found their grove,
hitting .481 with 15 kills and just two errors in 27 total
attacks. Whitman just never let the Loggers be competitive in
the set, cruising to a 25-14 set victory.
With the match tied coming out of the break, Whitman took an
advantage in the third set but the Loggers eventually caught up and
pulled ahead to collect at 25-21 victory and the advantage heading
into the fourth set. The powerful Logger attack got back on
track in the third set, putting down 17 kills with just three
errors on 37 attacks to hit .378.
In the fourth set, the upstart Missionaries simple ran out of
gas as the Loggers forced eight attack errors while committing just
two of their own as Puget Sound collected a 25-12 victory to clinch
the match, three sets to one.
Puget Sound was led by the 19 kills from Blickenstaff, who also
added three blocks while hitting .613 in the win. Senior
Kalli Kamphaus (Manson, Wash.) added 13 kills and seven blocks
while Stephanie Harvey (Yakima, Wash./Eisenhower) added 41 assists
in the victory.
Whitman was paced by 17 kills from Alex Graves, who attacked the
net 55 out of Whitman's 143 attempts. Courtney Brewer and
Katie Killer each added 11 kills while Katie Richards chipped in 40
assists in the loss.
Puget Sound will look to sweep the eastern Washington road trip
on Saturday evening when they take on Whitworth, beginning at 5:00
p.m. at Whitworth Fieldhouse in Spokane, Wash.
