TACOMA, Wash . -- (From Chris Thompson, UPS SID) The University of Puget Sound defeated visiting Whitworth College in non-conference volleyball action today in Memorial Fieldhouseby the score of 30-21, 31-29, 30-25. The Loggers had three hitters in double-digit in kills as Monica Groves, Jamie Eggers collected 11 each and Kayla Roof added 10 kills. The Pirates had a solid performance from Natalie Danielson who had a match high 16 kills.

The Loggers took control of game one early, jumping out to a 20-13 lead behind the arm of outside hitter Roof’s five kills and the middle attack of Grove with five kills. Whitworth pulled to within two points, 22-20, as Julie Marsh came to life with five kills for the Pirates. From there it was a Roof kill, a hitting error by the Pirates, back-to-back solo blocks for the Loggers pushing UPS to a 26-20 led. Puget Sound finished out the game with an ace by Alexis Kearns.

Game two saw the Pirates move out to a slim 4-1 lead, but the Loggers responded behind Eggers’ four kills. Danielson pushed the Pirates back to a two-point cushion collecting two huge kills. With the scored knotted at 6-6 the Loggers forged ahead to a 17-11 lead. Whitworth was not done as Marsh served up two aces and melted the Logger lead down to 17-15. The two teams traded points before a UPS hitting error followed by another kill from Danielson gave the Pirates a slim 25-24 lead. The two team traded kills but back-to-back aces by Kearns for the Loggers and a Pirate service error gave Puget Sound the 30-29 lead. The Loggers finished out game two 31-29.

Puget Sound took a 4-3 lead in the final game and never looked back as the Loggers collected 17 kills and hit for a .349 average, committing just two errors while the Pirates had just 11 kills but committed eight errors. The Pirates mounted a late comeback behind the arm of Danielson, who collected eight kills in game three, but it wasn't enough to push the Pirates to a win.

Jessica McPhee-Hayes led the Loggers with 37 assists (13 digs) on the night and Rebekah Hornor had 29 assists (20 digs) for the Pirates. The Loggers hit .301 on the night and the Pirates hit .084, committing 28 errors to the Loggers' seven. Puget Sound moves to 3-1 on the year and Whitworth is 4-2.

Whitworth will open Northwest Conference play next weekend with a pair of road matches in Oregon. Whitworth will play at George Fox University on Friday night at 7:00 pm. George Fox is 4-1 this season after going 3-1 this weekend at the Gettysburg College Battlefield Classic. The Bruins' Whitney Kolb was named to the all-tournament team. The Pirates beat the Bruins three times in 2004.

Whitworth will play at Lewis & Clark on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm. The Pioneers are 4-3 this season after finishing 2-2 this weekend at the Pacific Coast Classic hosted by Pomona-Pitzer College. Whitworth won both meetings against L&C last season.