Oct. 26, 2007

Record-Setting Win Nets Lutes Northwest Conference Volleyball Title

Box Score

Pacific Lutheran won its school-record 16th consecutive match and also wrapped up the Northwest Conference volleyball title Friday night with a 31-29, 30-21, 30-22 victory over the visiting Whitman Missionaries in Olson Auditorium.

The Lutes (20-3 overall, 13-0 NWC), ranked No. 14 in the CSTV/AVCA Division III top 25 national poll, won their second straight Northwest Conference championship – they shared the title last year with Linfield – and their third crown in the last four years. With their 16th straight match victory, they eclipsed the record first established by the 2004 PLU team that won the conference title and eventually reached the second round of the national playoffs.

A trio of seniors played a big part in the Lutes’ success on Friday. Stacie Matz finished the match with 15 kills and a .289 attack percentage, Gina Di Maggio spread the ball around and ended up with a match-high 40 assists, and Megan Kosel led both teams with 20 digs.

In the first game, Pacific Lutheran built an early lead behind the offensive play of Matz and four early service errors by Whitman. Trailing 22-14, however, the Missionaries (11-10 overall, 7-6 NWC) rallied behind a pair of kills by Rosa Brey to pull within three points at 24-21. They eventually took a 29-27 lead before the Lutes fought back to win the game with Anella Olbertz providing the final point with a kill.

The second game started out much like the first as the Lutes rode the hot arm of Matz to an early lead. The senior from Tacoma followed up a kill by Beth Hanna with two more of her own to give the home team an 8-3 advantage. Whitman reduced its deficit to three points at 10-7 on a kill by Brey, and she also contributed a pair of solo blocks to keep her team in the game, but it never got closer the rest of the way as Matz continued her impressive offensive display. Through two games she had 12 kills and only one error.

In the third game, Di Maggio found Hanna for several powerful kills to give the Lutes a 6-0 lead. They led 14-7 when the Missionaries rallied for four straight points, making the score 14-11. Whitman never got closer than that the rest of the way, however, as Hanna and Sarah Beaver both collected two kills to help the Lutes rebuild a 22-13 lead. When Di Maggio finished the game and match with a dump kill, the Lutes were able to celebrate their conference title.

Hanna led the Lutes with 17 kills and a .342 attack percentage in support of Matz’s outstanding performance, and as a team the Lutes hit a solid .240 for the match. Brey had a big night for the Missionaries with a team-high 14 kills while also adding five solo blocks and two block assists. Lydia Hayes had nine kills and hit .292 for the night, while Kristan Brown contributed 30 assists.

- PLU -