TACOMA, Wash. - Recording 62 kills and hitting .273 for the
match, the 15th-ranked Puget sound Loggers held off the Lewis &
Clark Pioneers, 25-20, 26-24, 22-25, 25-22, in a Northwest
Conference volleyball match on Saturday night at Memorial
Fieldhouse in Tacoma, Wash.
In the first set, the Loggers (8-2, 2-0 NWC) were challenged by
the visiting Pios but Puget Sound put together a six-point swing
that took them from an 18-18 tie to up 24-18 and they finished out
the set with a 25-20 win. Sophomore Brynn Blickenstaff (Eagle,
Idaho) started out strong, putting up five kills to help the
Loggers take the early lead.
In the second set, the Loggers took the early lead and it looked
like they would cruise through the frame but the Pioneers had other
ideas, tying the match up at 20-20. Puget Sound continued to
battle and a strong block by Kalli Kamphaus (Manson, Wash.) and
Blickenstaff gave the Loggers the 26-24 set two victory and the 2-0
lead.
In the third set, the Pioneers came out determined and built a
large enough lead to hold back the Loggers. L&C used a
crucial four-point run to go from down 17-18 to up 21-18 and it was
enough to prevent Puget Sound from collecting the sweep as the Pios
collected a 25-22 set three victory. Despite losing the set,
the Loggers had their best hitting frame in the third, recording 18
kills and just four errors on 38 attacks for a .368 hitting
percentage
The nationally-ranked Loggers finally got out the hammer in the
fourth set, throwing down 14 kills and committing just one attack
error to hit .342 for the frame and collect the 25-22 set four
victory to put the nail in the Pioneers' coffin. With the
win, the Loggers improve to 2-0 in conference play.
Puget Sound was led by 17 kills from Blickenstaff. Lindsey
Denman (Kenmore, Wash./Inglemoor) added 16 kills while Kamphaus
chipped in 15 kills and six blocks. Stephanie Harvey (Yakima,
Wash./Eisenhower) collected 30 assists on the match while Erika
Greene (Sandy, Utah/Juan Diego) added 21 assists of her own.
Lewis & Clark was led by 12 kills from Margaret
Dowling. Katherine Fiedler added 11 kills and Sarah Hall
chipped in 10 kills in the losing effort. Leia Matsunaga had
a strong game setting, recording 41 assists on 48 total L&C
kills.
The Loggers will be back in action on Wednesday night when they
play host to crosstown rival Pacific Lutheran in a battle of first
place teams. Gametime with the Lutes is set for 7:00 p.m. at
Memorial Fieldhouse in Tacoma, Wash.
Box Score
