Lewis & Clark Slips past Bearcats, 3-2, in NWC Volleyball

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Three players from Lewis & Clark College earned double-digit kills, and the Pioneers won the final two sets, to rally from a 2-1 deficit for a 3-2 win over Willamette University in a Northwest Conference volleyball match on Saturday, Oct. 29. L&C edged out the Bearcats, 14-25, 25-22, 27-29, 25-18, 15-9.

The Pioneers upped their record to 5-16 overall, 4-10 in the NWC. Willamette fell to 7-15 on the season and to 5-9 in the NWC.

Julia Somers led L&C with 15 kills, while Emma Contreras provided 11 kills and Casey Myszkowski recorded 10 kills. Somers and Alexe Navarro each achieved 18 digs for the Pioneers. Sam Yorke supplied 28 assists and Mikayla Lopez contributed 23 assists.

Alexa Dowdell (Sr., OH/OPP, Mililani, HI/Maryknoll HS) produced 15 kills for the Bearcats. Jennifer Lane (Fr., MH/OH, Salinas, CA/Notre Dame HS) hit .276 and tacked on 12 kills for Willamette.

Kaylen Higa (So., LIB/DS, Mililani, HI/Punahou School) of Willamette piled up 25 digs, with Lauren Stiles (Fr., OH, Altadena, CA/Flintridge Preparatory School) adding 12 digs. Tynan Gable (Jr., S, Woodinville, WA/Woodinville HS) dished out 27 assists.

Team statistics for the match were reasonably close. L&C recorded a 55-49 margin in kills and a 70-67 lead in digs. Willamette produced 10 service aces, while L&C earned eight. WU was credited with 7.0 team total blocks, while the Pioneers attained 6.0 team blocks. L&C hit .154 and Willamette hit .150.

The Bearcats moved out to a 7-3 lead in the first set and remained in front on their way to a 25-14 win. WU hit .250 in the opening set, as Dowdell and Lane each produced three kills. The Bearcats limited L&C to a .051 hitting percentage during the set.

Lewis & Clark evened the match with a 25-22 victory in the second set. Willamette built its second consecutive 7-3 lead, and also owned a 9-4 advantage. The Pioneers eventually took a 13-12 lead.

A bit later, Willamette edged in front 17-16 on a kill by Madison Haley (Fr., MH/OPP, Truckee, CA/Tahoe Truckee HS). L&C went on a 7-3 run to take a 23-20 lead. Stiles pounded out a kill for the Bearcats to cut the margin to 23-21. WU also pulled within 24-22 on a kill by Lane, before L&C scored the winning point.

Willamette trailed 16-11 in the third set, but rallied for a 29-27 win. The Bearcats pulled even with the Pioneers at 21-21 on a service ace by Stiles, and led 24-22 after a kill by Dowdell. L&C scored on the next two rallies. The teams also were tied at 25, 26 and 27, before a service error and an attacking error by the Pioneers gave WU the final two points.

In the fourth set, Lewis & Clark used a 6-0 run to create a 19-10 advantage. Willamette got as close as 21-17 after a 6-0 run by the Bearcats. The Pioneers grabbed the set with a 4-1 run that ended with a kill from Myszkowski and a kill by Kortney Meyer.

L&C scored the first two points of the fifth set and took a 6-2 lead on a service ace by Yorke. Later, the Pioneers led 11-4 after a kill by Emma Contreras. Willamette tallied the next two points on an attacking error by L&C and a successful attack by Riley Fawcett (Sr., OH, Normandy Park, WA/John F. Kennedy HS). The Pioneers went on a 4-3 run to end the match.

Willamette is scheduled to play at Pacific University on Friday, Nov. 4. Match time in Forest Grove, Oregon, is 7 p.m. (PDT).