TACOMA, Washington (October 22, 2024) - The women's volleyball team got it done tonight against the Pacific Lutheran Lutes, taking their rivals in five sets (17-25, 25-18, 25-16, 16-25, 15-9). They are now tied for second in the conference with the Lutes, both with records of 9-2.

The Lutes started the match off strong, going up on the Loggers 5-0 and eventually 15-3. The Loggers were unable to come back from the deficit and fell 17-25. However, the second set was a completely different story. The Lutes made just as many attack errors as kills, resulting in a .000 hitting percentage. The Loggers made five service errors, but made up for it with five aces, four of which scored by Akira Anderson, to claim the second set 25-18.

In the third set, the Loggers had another five aces, but increased their hitting percentage to .522, setting the tone for a decisive 25-16 win. Things looked good for the Loggers, but the Lutes took the lead midway through the fourth set with eight consecutive points and continued to hold the lead forcing a fifth set. However, a fire was lit under the Loggers and they claimed victory in the fifth set to take the match.

Going into the game the Loggers knew they were facing a strong hitting team. Head Coach Mark Massey said they "did a great job of finding [PLU's] weaknesses in the passing game and exploiting them through target serving," which was something the team intentionally practiced this past week.

Mackenzie Leith, Maddie Badger, and Sarah Johnsen came ready to play. Leith led the team with 16 kills followed by Badger with 11 kills and 3.5 blocks. Johnsen had 11 kills and a season-high hitting percentage of .556.

The Loggers will ride this victory into the weekend as they take on Lewis & Clark Saturday night at 7pm.