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Bardwell had 11 kills and a match-high 25 digs

TACOMA, Wash. -- (From PLU Sports Information Office) Visiting Whitworth did its best to derail the conference title plans of Northwest Conference leader Pacific Lutheran on Saturday evening, but the Pirates fell 25-13, 25-22, 23-25, 25-17 at Olson Auditorium.

The win was the 11th straight in conference play for the 17th-ranked Lutes, who were playing their final home match of the season. The Lutes (18-6 overall, 12-2 NWC) have a two-game lead in the conference standings over Puget Sound, which was upset Saturday by Whitman. They need either a win in one of their final two matches or a Puget Sound loss in either of their final two matches to win the conference title and wrap up the NWC’s automatic berth in the NCAA postseason tournament.

It was another impressive night from standout sophomore Beth Hanna, who finished with 23 kills while hitting .305 for the match. Freshman Kelsie Moore, who sat out Friday’s win over Whitman with an ankle injury, came back strong against Whitworth with 12 kills and 15 digs. Sarah Beaver added 45 assists and 15 digs and Brenna Archibald led the Lutes with 22 digs.

With Hanna recording 14 of her kills and the team hitting .274, the Lutes won the first two sets. They broke away from a 9-9 tie in the first set, finishing it with a 16-4 run. PLU never trailed in the second set after taking a 3-2 lead on a kill by Hanna. Another Hanna finish put the Lutes on top 15-8, but a series of PLU errors and kills by Nikki Bardwell, Morgan Veleke and Jordon Hoffnagle helped the Pirates on a
10-3 run that tied the set at 18-18. With the scored at 20-20, Moore recorded a kill that put the Lutes ahead for good. Hanna added two more kills before Katlyn Kester finished the set with a kills for PLU.

Whitworth battled back to win a tightly contested third set in which neither team led by more than three points, that coming when the Pirates jumped out to a 4-1 advantage. Whitworth broke a 22-22 tie on a PLU attack error and a Bardwell service ace, and it finally closed out the set on a kill by Holly Tomlin.

In the deciding fourth set, the Lutes jumped out to a 7-0 lead and were never headed. The Pirates got as close as three points at 18-15 on a Tomlin kill, but the Lutes regained momentum on a kill by Katy Tauscher and finished out the set.

Whitworth got a strong performance from Nikki Bardwell with 11 kills, a .278 attack percentage and a match-high 25 digs. Whitworth’s setter tandem of Hoffnagle and Bree Riddle combined for 38 assists.

The Pirates will conclude the 2008 season at home next week when they host Whitman on Wednesday night at Linfield on Saturday. A win in each match will give the Bucs their first winning record since 2005.

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