SPOKANE, Wash. -- Sara Kettler's 11 kills and seven blocks and a huge first game comeback propelled visiting Lewis & Clark to a 32-30, 30-25, 15-30, 32-30 win at Whitworth in a Northwest Conference volleyball match on Friday night.

The win, L&C's first at Whitworth since October 21, 1988, improved the Pioneers to 4-9 overall, 2-1 in the NWC. Whitworth fell to 2-12, 1-2.

Angie Florence had a match-high 19 kills

Kettler led the Pioneers, who controlled the net with nine team blocks (five solo, 8 assists). Nicki Smith added nine kills and two blocks. Andrea Chase had six kills, 11 digs and 13 assists. L&C libero Liz Nguyen led the team with 25 digs.

Whitworth finished with 20 more kills than L&C, but also had 16 more hitting errors. The Pirates also had only three team blocks. Angie Florence led all players with 19 kills, and she added 16 digs. Nikki Bardwell had 12 kills and Tamra Stark added 11. Holly Ridings finished with 47 assists, and Cassie Moore led all players with 31 digs as the Pirate libero.

The match turned in the first game. Whitworth took what appeared to be a commanding 21-12 lead after a pair of passing mistakes by L&C, forcing a Pioneer timeout. But then the visitors began to chip away at the lead. A kill by chase pulled the Pioneers to within 21-17. A kill by Jessamy Holland made the score 26-23. L&C finally tied the game 29-29 after a block by Kelsey Neussl and Kettler. After trading points, the Pioneers finally won the game on back to back kills by Kettler.

After trailing 4-1 early, L&C took a 7-4 lead and never trailed again in the set. A kill by Smith and a Pirate attack error made the score 18-12 in favor of L&C, its largest lead of the game. Whitworth got back within 23-21 on a kill by Florence and a Pioneer error, but L&C scored the next three points to retake control.

Whitworth broke away from a 4-4 tie to win the third game easily. The Pirates built leads of 12-7 (on a kill by Holly Tomlin) and 19-12 (on a Pioneer ball handling error), before finishing the game on a 11-3 run.

The fourth game was closely played as the Pirates tied to force and fifth and deciding set, while the Pioneers tried to end the match. There were nine lead changes and 16 ties along the way, and neither team led by more than three points. Whitworth took a 13-10 lead on a kill by Florence, but L&C went on a 6-0 run to lead 16-13 on back to back Pirate ball handling mistakes. With the match tied 27-27, Whitworth looked to win it by scoring the next two points, but L&C tied it on a kill and a block by Kettler. After a 30-30 tie, Chase ended the match with back to back kills.

Whitworth will try to bounce back when the Pirates host George Fox on Saturday at 3:00 pm. L&C continues on the road at Whitman.