TACOMA, Wash. - Down 24-21 in the third set, the 15th-ranked
Puget Sound Loggers scored five straight points to complete a
three-set victory over a talented Pacific Boxer Team, 25-23, 25-19,
26-24, in a Northwest Conference volleyball match on Friday night
at Memorial Fieldhouse in Tacoma, Wash.
In the first set, the Boxers (5-4, 0-1 NWC) kept with the
Loggers (7-2, 1-0 NWC) for most of the set but the Loggers built a
slight advantage towards the midpoint and used a strong defense to
protect the lead. Sophomore Bre Boyce (Kent, Wash./Kentwood) showed
why she had earned Logger of the Week honors, recording four kills
on just eight attempts with one error for a .375 hitting percentage
in the first frame as the Loggers collected the 25-23 set one
victory.
In the second set, it was all Loggers from the beginning as they
never trailed, building an early cushion and using pressure on the
Boxer attack to cruise to the 25-19 win. Puget Sound forced
Pacific to make eight attack errors on the set as they hit just
.065 in the frame. On the other side of the net, the Loggers
slammed their way to a .207 hitting percentage, putting down 10
kills with four attack errors on 29 attempts.
In the third frame, it looked like the Boxers would force the
match into at least the fourth set as they built an early
lead. The Loggers eventually found their key to victory in
their blocking game, recording six blocks in the third frame
alone. With the Loggers trailing 24-21 and on the brink of
another set, the Loggers came alive, forcing four straight attack
errors by Pacific freshman Alexa Block before finishing it out with
an imposing kill by sophomore Brynn Blickenstaff (Eagle, Idaho) for
the match-clincher in the 26-24 set three win.
The Loggers were led offensively by 10 kills from Blickenstaff,
who hit .250 on the match with just two attack errors.
Stephanie Harvey (Yakima, Wash./Eisenhower) put up 18 assists on
the night while Boyce finished with six kills and five blocks in
the match.
Pacific was led by 12 kills from Block, who also finished with
12 attack errors to hit .000 for the match. Brittney Johnson
put up 32 assists on 35 total Boxer kills and Jade Thompson
finished with 17 digs.
The Loggers will be back in action on Saturday night when they
play host to Lewis & Clark in a battle of first place
team.
Boxscore
