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Spokane, Wash. -- Whitworth College survived a season-low team hitting percentage to hold off visiting Pacific University 30-23, 25-30, 30-21, 30-18 in a Northwest Conference women's volleyball match on Friday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

The Pirates improved to 14-3 overall and 7-2 in the NWC despite hitting .111 as a team, the lowest percentage of the season. Whitworth benefited from Pacific's (2-15, 1-8) own tough night at the net as the Boxers hit -.044 as a team.

Julie Marsh totaled 16 kills while hitting .406 to lead the Pirates. Katy Schrader added 10 kills and four block assists. Angie Florence and Nicole Vander Meulen came off of the bench to give the Pirates a spark in the third and fourth games, combining for 11 kills and 13 digs.

Shasta Cummings led Pacific with nine kills, while Megan Van Domelen added seven. Meghan Kennedy led all players with 17 digs while playing libero. The Boxers were also solid at the net, recording ten team blocks, led by Lexie Graham's five block assists.

The Pirates pulled away from a 17-17 tie with a 6-0 run to win game one 30-23. Marsh and Schrader each had a kill and they also combined for a block in the key run.

The Boxers used a solid run of their own to win game two 30-25, scoring the final five points to pull away from the final tie of the set. Van Domelen scored two of the five points with kills.

Whitworth pulled away from a 10-10 tie in game three with an 8-1 run. Marsh had three kills to spark the Bucs, who went on to win 30-21.

Cummings pulled Pacific to within 22-18 with a kill in the fourth game. But Whitworth scored the final eight points, including two kills from Schrader, to win the game 30-18 and the match 3-1.

Whitworth will host defending NWC champion Linfield College on Saturday night, while Pacific travels to Walla Walla to play Whitman.

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