WALLA WALLA, Wash. – For the sixth consecutive meeting Whitman College's women's volleyball team defeated Lewis & Clark College, taking Friday evening's Northwest Conference match by a score of 3-0 at the Sherwood Athletics Center. Shae Kanakaole posted a match-high 16 kills for the host Missionaries but the decisive point in Game 3 came via a block from first-year's Megan Henry and Brooke Randall.

The clean sweep (25-13, 25-18, 27-25) by Whitman (4-9, 2-5 NWC) marks the fourth straight time it has defeated the Pioneers (7-7, 4-3) without surrendering a game. 

A quick start by the Missionaries helped set the tone for the night as they rolled to their opening-game victory trailing only once, at 4-3, then never trailed in Game 2 though L&C began to put up greater resistance.

Whitman was able to maintain its momentum through the first third of Game 3 but the Pioneers finally broke through for their first lead since that narrow edge in the opener, seizing a 9-8 lead from the home team.

The see-saw battle tilted Lewis & Clark's direction late as it inched to a two point lead at 21-19 only to see Whitman score the next two points. A new theme -- from Whitman's early dominance -- had become the norm in the match as the teams traded point swings.

Tied at 21-21 the Pioneers gained the lead via a kill from Ali Carleton and an attacking error on Whitman's side. But the lead would be short lived as the Pioneers returned the attacking error and Abby Seethoff dropped in a service ace followed by a kill on her next service point.

The visitors halted that run to knot the score at 24-24 but a bad set on the Pioneers' side lifted Whitman up by a point and within one of clinching the match. The win wouldn't come that easy, though, as a Julia Somers kill gained a side out and yet another tie for Lewis & Clark.

On this night, however, Whitman wasn't about to let a victory slip away. Kanakaole notched her final kill of the night for the match's penultimate point and then Henry and Randall -- subbed onto the floor right after Kanakaole's kill --  stuffed a Somers attack from the opposite side to finally shut down the Pioneers yet again.

The combination of Kanakaole and Seethoff, with 13 kills, combined for 29 of Whitman's 42 kills on the night. The duo owe much of their night's successes to setter Anna Dawson who dished out a match-high 33 assists.

Whitman's home stand continues Saturday at Sherwood where Willamette University visits for a 5 p.m. conference match with the Missionaries.