Complete box score and play by play

TACOMA, Wash . -- (From PLU Sports Information Office) Kills by Whitworth's Julie Marsh and Natalie Danielson in the fifth game lifted the visiting Pirates to a hard-fought victory over Pacific Lutheran in a Northwest Conference volleyball match tonight in Olson Auditorium.

The 24th-ranked Pirates are 10-2 overall and 6-0 in the conference. Defending NWC champion PLU slipped to 7-6 overall, 4-2 in conference matches.

The Lutes pulled out a 32-30 triumph in the first game, but Whitworth took control and claimed the next two games by 30-22 and 30-23 outcomes. PLU forced the fifth game with a 30-25 win.

The Pirates jumped out to a 5-0 advantage in the final game but the Lutes came back to knot the score at 6-6. After three more ties and three lead changes, the game was tied at 13-all after Meghan Fagerberg's kill for PLU.

Marsh put the Pirates in front to stay and Danielson tallied the deciding point for the visitors.

Danielson led Whitworth with 21 kills. Brittney Bower had perhaps her best match as a Pirate, finishing with 16 kills and no errors in 35 attempts for a .457 hitting percentage. Bekah Hornor dished 44 assists. Stephanie Turner led PLU with 21 kills as well.

A power surge during the pre-match warm-ups resulted in the lights going out in Olson Auditorium, delaying the start of the match by 15 minutes.

Whitworth hopes to continue its six-match winning streak on Wednesday when the Pirates play at Whitman College in Walla Walla. Whitman is 7-7 overall and 2-4 in the NWC after dropping a pair of matches at PLU and UPS this weekend. Whitworth swept Whitman in a pair of matches in 2004.