Complete box score and play by play

SPOKANE, Wash . -- With a three game sweep of visiting Whitman College on Wednesday night, Whitworth College clinched the outright 2005 Northwest Conference volleyball title by a score of 30-22, 30-25, 30-19 in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

The 17th-ranked Pirates (19-3 overall, 14-1 NWC) have won four consecutive matches going into Friday night's regular season finale at Willamette University. The Missionaries fell to 11-12, 6-9 and they will also close out the season at Willamette on Saturday night.

Bekah Hornor had 38 assists, 6 kills and 6 digs

Natalie Danielson posted eight of her match high 15 kills in the decisive second game to lead Whitworth. She also added four blocks. The Pirates got solid contributions off of the bench from Carey Guhlke and Angie Florence, who had eight and seven kills, respectively. Rebekah Hornor had 38 assists to go along with six kills and six digs. The Pirates hit .339 as a team.

Kristen Marshall had 10 kills to lead Whitman. Kristen Brown came off of the bench to dish 18 assists and Rosa Brey led the team with three blocks. The Missionaries' team hitting percentage was .048.

Whitworth opened a 25-13 lead in the first game on a kill by Guhlke. But Whitman rallied to within 26-19 after an ace by Kaelyn Merkel and a Pirate attack error. But that was as close as the Missionaries would come before Danielson ended the game with a kill.

The second game went back and fourth with eight lead changes until Whitworth took the lead for good at 18-17 on a kill by Danielson. But Whitman hung close and was still within 26-24 after a kill by Marshall. But the Pirates scored four the final five points of the set to win 30-25 on Brittney Bower's kill.

Whitworth pulled away from an 8-8 tie in the third game with an 8-1 run that opened a 16-9 lead. Whitman got as close as 17-13 on a Pirate ball handling error, but the Pirates extended the lead back to 23-14 on a back row kill by Taryn Smith. Jill Solbrack ended the match with her only kill of the contest.

After concluding the regular season at Willamette on Friday, Whitworth will host the NCAA West Regional of the Division III national volleyball tournament on November 10-12. Announcements about participants and match times will come on Sunday, November 6th. Whitworth has previously hosted a regional of the national tournament in 2002.