TACOMA, Wash. -- (From PLU Sports Information Office) Pacific Lutheran gained a share of first place in the Northwest Conference volleyball standings with Linfield on Saturday, but the pesky Whitworth Pirates made sure that the host Lutes earned it.

Vander Meulen led the Bucs with 12 kills

PLU beat Whitworth, 30-14, 22-30, 30-13, 31-29, to win their seventh match in a row and improve their conference record to 6-0. The Lutes are 12-4 for the season. With the loss, defending conference champion Whitworth drops to 2-4 in the conference and 3-14 overall.

The Lutes started out in impressive fashion, overwhelming the Pirates in the first game. Freshman outside hitter Kelcy Joynt had four of her 12 kills in the game. No sooner had PLU seemed to establish dominance, however, than the Pirates showed their own bit of tenacity. Blocking better at the net and holding the Lutes to a negative hitting percentage, Whitworth rallied to win the second game.

The third game was much like the first as the Lutes showed why they are tied atop the conference standings. Joynt was strong on the attack with seven kills, and Stacie Matz added six more as the Lutes blitzed the Pirates.

The roller coaster continued in the fourth game as the Pirates battled back with effective defense and strong net play to eventually take a 28-24 lead on consecutive PLU attack errors. The teams traded points and the Pirates were on the verge of forcing the fifth-and-deciding game when the Lutes rallied for the win. PLU scored the final six points of the match on three attack errors and three ball-handling errors by the Pirates. PLU was fortunate to win the fourth game after getting only six kills and hitting a negative .060 in the decider.

Matz led the Lutes with 13 kills, followed closely by Joynt with 12. For Whitworth, Nicole Vander Meulen had 12 kills and Angie Florence added 10. Neither team performed well on offense as the Lutes hit just .106 for the game compared to .033 for Whitworth. Both teams finished with 79 digs.

Whitworth will return to action on Wednesday night when the Pirates host Whitman College at 6:00 pm. Next Saturday Whitworth will host Pacific University at 5:00 pm.