Whitman Outlasts Bearcats in Five Sets at Cone Field House

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, Ore. -- Katie Sisson achieved 15 kills and Shae Kanakaole added 13 kills, as Whitman College held off Willamette University, 3-2, in a Northwest Conference volleyball match on Friday, Sept. 23 at Cone Field House. Whitman won the five-set thriller, 25-18, 19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-8, to up its record to 6-5 overall, 3-0 in the NWC. The Bearcats dropped to 3-8 overall, 1-2 in the NWC.

Alexa Dowdell (Sr., OH/OPP, Mililani, HI/Maryknoll HS) and Jennifer Lane (Fr., MH/OH, Salinas, CA/Notre Dame HS) each registered 12 kills for the Bearcats. Kaylen Higa (So., Mililani, HI/Punahou School), the libero for Willamette, contributed a career-high 33 digs.

Codie Conching of Whitman matched Higa with 33 digs. Kanakaole provided 23 digs for Whitman. Anna Dawson supplied 41 of the team's 52 assists.

Bearcat setters Kunani Tuttle (Fr., Anahola, HI/Kappa HS) and Tynan Gable (Jr., Woodinville, WA/Woodinville HS) combined for 43 of Willamette's 46 assists. Tuttle accounted for 23 assists, while Gable added 20.

Whitman took a 6-3 lead in the fifth set, but the Bearcats tallied the next three points, starting with a kill from Lauren Stiles (Fr., OH, Altadena, CA/Flintridge Preparatory School), to tie the score. Whitman surged in front with eight consecutive points.

A kill by Sisson started run. Miranda Taylor followed with a service ace. Her next six serves included two more aces, as Whitman built a 14-6 lead. Natallia Zea added two kills during the run. A serving error by Taylor gave the ball back to the Bearcats.

Willamette tacked on a kill by Emma Liband (Jr., MH, Sandpoint, ID/Sandpoint HS) to get within 14-8. Kanakaole earned a kill on the next rally to end the match.

The first set was tied at 2-2 after four points, but it took Willamette a while to recover after Lane had to leave the court with an injury. She returned later in the set, but the Bearcats trailed 11-6.

Willamette got as close as 18-14 on a service ace by Lane, and also trailed just 21-18 after a combo block by Madison Haley (Fr., MH/OPP, Truckee, CA/Tahoe Truckee HS) and Riley Fawcett (Sr., OH, Normandy Park, WA/John F. Kennedy HS). Whitman scored the next four points to win the set.

The Bearcats started the second set with a 9-1 run, as the crowd of 570 spectators cheered loudly. Whitman rallied to within 9-7 and eventually tied the Bearcats at 11-11 and 12-12. Willamette responded with a 7-2 run for a 19-14 lead. The run included an ace by Gable, plus one kill each by Dowdell, Higa and Lane. Haley and Dowdell opened the run with a block on Kanakaole.

After Whitman cut the lead to 22-18 on a kill by Lara Temel, the Bearcats put together three successful rallies in a row. Lane earned a kill, and then Sisson committed an attacking error for Whitman. Stiles registered the set-winning kill for Willamette.

The Bearcats scored the first eight points of the third set, including three service aces by Stiles, but couldn't sustain the momentum. Whitman rallied to tie the set at 10-10. It was the first of 10 ties and five lead changes during the set.

Willamette held leads of 21-19 on a kill by Lane and 22-20 on a service error by Whitman. Consecutive kills by Sisson, Zea and Kanakaole gave Whitman a 23-22 edge. Stiles pounded down a kill to tie the score, but two more kills by Kanakaole gave the visitors a 25-22 win.

In the fourth set, Willamette took a 9-8 lead on a Whitman attacking error and never trailed the rest of the way. Even so, leads of 15-11 and 19-14 nearly disappeared when four straight points by Whitman cut the margin to 23-22. Dowdell answered with a kill, before Fawcett and Liband provided the final point of the set with a block.

The Bearcats are at home again on Saturday (Sept. 24), when they will host Whitworth University at 6 p.m. (PDT). Whitworth is 9-3 overall and 3-0 in the NWC after sweeping Linfield College in three sets on Friday, 25-22, 25-16, 25-18.