Volleyball Loses 3-1 to Pacific Boxers

By Sara Elcano, Assistant Athletics Communications Director

FOREST GROVE, ORE. -- Willamette University lost in four sets to Pacific University, 3-1, in a Northwest Conference volleyball match on Friday, Oct. 22 in Forest Grove, Ore. The Boxers won, 25-14, 21-25, 25-19, 25-23, to improve to 4-15 overall, 3-8 in the NWC. Willamette dropped to 7-13 on the season, 3-8 in conference play.

Willamette was led by Molly Blankenship (Sr., OH, Spokane, WA/Spokane Falls CC) who recorded 12 kills in the loss. Carly Hargrave (Fr., MH, Happy Valley, OR/Clackamas HS) added seven kills, two serving aces, one solo block and three block assists.

Alexa Block had a match-high 16 kills for the Boxers. Mariah McHolland earned 11 kills and eight block assists. Danica Thompson had 46 assists for Pacific.

Willamette hit .130 as a team compared to Pacific's .200 hitting percentage. The Boxers had 11 blocks while Willamette tallied nine. The Bearcats had eight serving aces but also made seven service errors.

Pacific cruised to an easy 25-14 victory in the opening set as the Boxers hit .478 as a team. The Bearcats battled back in the second set to even the match 1-1. Willamette hit .360 en route to the 25-21 victory.

In the third set, Pacific hit well and picked up four easy points from aces to defeat Willamette 25-19 and take a 2-1 lead.

Willamette made things interesting in the final set, but was unable to overcome the Boxers' strong attack. Trailing 24-21, the Bearcats battled back to pull within one point at 24-23. Pacific re-grouped during a timeout and scored the set and match winning point.

Emily Compton (So., S, Portola, CA/Boise State Univ.) had 34 assists and eight digs for Willamette. Junior Annika Moffett (OP, Portland, OR/Lincoln HS) added six kills and five digs.

The Bearcats' next match is on Saturday, Oct. 23 at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. Match time is set for 7 p.m. (PDT) against the Loggers.