Oct. 27, 2007

Record Assault Continues as Lutes Beat Whitworth

Beth Hanna - 26 kills

Stacie Matz - 20 kills, 19 digs

Box Score

PARKLAND, Wash. – Northwest Conference volleyball champion Pacific Lutheran won its 17th consecutive match to add to one record, and at the same time tied another school record with its 21st victory of the season, when it defeated the visiting Whitworth Pirates on Saturday night in Olson Auditorium.

The Lutes, ranked No. 14 in the CSTV/AVCA Division III top 25 national poll, won the Northwest Conference match 27-30, 30-23, 30-13, 30-19. The victory improves PLU’s overall record to 21-3, tying this team with the 2003 squad that finished its season with a 21-5 record. The win, the 200th for head coach Kevin Aoki in his 12 seasons at Pacific Lutheran, was also the Lutes’ 14th in Northwest Conference play without a defeat. Following the loss, Whitworth is now 10-13 overall and 5-9 in conference matches.

Pacific Lutheran seniors Megan Kosel, Olivia Fagerberg, Stacie Matz and Gina Di Maggio, all playing their final home contest in Olson Auditorium, were honored before the match. Once play began, however, it was Whitworth that came out with a vengeance.

The Pirates used a pair of four-point runs to turn a 16-13 deficit into a 21-17 advantage. Whitworth had four kills, including two consecutive by Cassie Moore, during the first run, then used an ace by Holly Ridings and a kill by Randi Stephens to close out the second run. Pacific Lutheran was able to cut its deficit to 22-21, but Whitworth rode kills from four different players to a 29-25 lead. Holly Tomlin finished the game with a kill to give the Pirates the early lead in games. Moore led the Pirates with six kills during the opener.

Pacific Lutheran, which lost a game for only the sixth time since Sept. 8, roared back to sweep the final three games. Matz collected six kills and Anella Olbertz added four more to lead the Lutes in the second game. The Lutes took an 8-3 lead as the Pirates committed three straight attack errors. The Pirates weren’t done, however, rallying and eventually taking a 15-14 lead on a kill by Ridings. PLU returned the favor, building a 22-17 advantage and finally winning the match on a kill by Matz.

The third and fourth games held little of the drama of the first two games as the Lutes really found their offensive stride. After hitting .161 as a team in the first game and .271 in the second game, they hit .452 in the third and .351 in the fourth. Beth Hanna, PLU’s outstanding freshman outside hitter, cranked nine kills in the third game, and she and Matz both had five kills in the fourth game to close out the match.

Hanna had a huge match with 26 kills and only one error for a .455 attack percentage. Matz was impressive as well with 20 kills and a .263 attack percentage, and she led the Lutes with 19 digs. Di Maggio finished the night with 51 assists, and she was one of five PLU players to record double-digits in digs.

For the Pirates, Rusch finished the match with 15 kills and Moore added 11. Ridings collected 35 assists and 17 digs, and Moore had a team-high 18 digs for Whitworth.

Pacific Lutheran returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, when it meets the Linfield Wildcats in McMinnville, Ore.

- PLU -