SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth gave its best effort, but visiting Pacific Lutheran had every answer as the visiting Lutes came away with a 30-24, 30-26, 33-31 Northwest Conference volleyball win on Saturday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Florence led Whitworth with 12 kills and 22 digs

PLU (19-5 overall, 13-1 NWC) kept alive its hopes of a conference title, while Whitworth (7-18, 6-8) dropped its second straight contest.

Kati McGinn led all players with 20 kills for PLU, while Stacie Matz added 11 kills and 23 digs. Megan Kosel finished with 25 digs and Gina Di Maggio dished 37 assists. Kyla Wytko led all players with nine blocks.

Angie Florence had 12 kills and Nikki Bardwell added 11 for the Pirates, while Florence and Cassie Moore dug 22 balls each. Holly Ridings had 34 assists and Tamra Stark led the Bucs with three blocks.

Coming off of its first conference loss of 2006, PLU turned an early 6-4 deficit into a 13-7 lead after a kill by Matz. Whitworth stayed within 23-20 after back to back kills by Florence, but the Lutes finished with a 7-4 run, ending the first game on a kill by Di Maggio.

Whitworth then led nearly all of the second game, grabbing a 10-8 advantage on an error by Di Maggio and holding the edge at 22-18 after a kill by Florence. But PLU then went on an 8-0 run to take control, leading 26-22 after an error by Stark. They finally won the game on a Pirate ball handling error.

PLU looked to put the third game away early, taking a 9-5 lead on an ace by Di Maggio. But Whitworth fought back to take a 19-15 lead after a block by Stark and Caitlin Risk. The Lutes came back to tie the game 25-25 on an ace by Kelcy Joynt, but Whitworth went back in front 29-27 on back to back PLU errors. But the Lutes fought off both game points with a block and a kill by McGinn, then two more after the Pirates took leads of 30-29 and 31-30. Then PLU scored the final three points, including kills by Kosel and Matz, to win the game and the match.

Whitworth will finish the season with two road matches next week, beginning with a Wednesday night contest at Whitman. PLU returns home for its NWC-deciding showdown with second-place Linfield on Friday night.