Wade with Eight Kills and Westby Seven Blocks in Volleyball Match at Linfield

McMinnville, Ore. - Volleyball took the opening set of their season-ending match at Linfield University, but couldn't hold on and lost 3-1 to the host Wildcats, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-22.

The Wildcats got off to a strong start in the first set, taking leads of 4-1 and 7-2 before Willamette would start their comeback.  The Bearcats tied the score at fourteen on a service ace by Leina Chu, but Linfield pulled back ahead 18-17 on a kill by Nora Myre.  Willamette then won the next four points to take a 21-18 lead, capped off by consecutive kills by Lexie Scott and Nora Wade.  The Bearcats ended the set on a kill by Olivia Cadien to take the opener 25-22.

The Bearcats carried that momentum into set two and built a quick 6-1 lead before the Wildcats scored 7 of the next 8 points to take an 8-7 lead.  Willamette quickly tied things up and jumped out to a 16-12 lead on an ace by Dream Takemote, but Linfield went on another run, this time scoring 9 of the next 10 points to go up 21-17 and they eventually won the second set by a score of 25-21.

The third set was back-and-forth like the first two with the score tied nine separate times before Linfield scored four straight points to take a 14-10 lead, midway through the set.  They extended the lead to 19-12 and Willamette would get no closer than five points at 20-15 before the Wildcats closed out set three 25-17.

For most of the fourth set, it looked like the match would be headed for five as Willamette jumped out to leads of 9-4, 14-6, and 16-8.  The teams traded points and the Bearcats held a 20-14 lead before Linfield scored five straight to cut the Willamette lead to one at 20-19.  A kill by Caroline Jameson and a Linfield service error put Willamette up 22-20, but the Wildcats scored the final five points of the set and the match to win 25-22.

Nora Wade led the Bearcats in kills for the match with eight, followed by Caroline Jameson and Lexie Scott with six.  Alayna Hughes had 17 digs for Willamette with Dream Takemoto adding 16.  Kaityln Westby contributed seven blocks and Katey Cramer served up five aces.

The Volleyball team ended their season with an overall record of 7-17 and were 6-10 in the Northwest Conference.  The team finished in fifth place overall, one place away from their finish last season and just short of qualifying for the conference tournament.