WALLA WALLA, Wash.  First-year performer Kalli Dickey stroked a match-high 16 kills Saturday night as Whitman's volleyball team celebrated Senior Night with a 25-15, 20-25, 25-20, 25-17 Northwest Conference victory over visiting Lewis & Clark at Sherwood Center.

Senior Anna Dawson made her final home match one to remember with 26 assists and 12 digs. 

The Blues, who honored Dawson, and fellow seniors Cherokee Washington and Lara Temel before the match, improved to 9-5 in the conference and 9-10 overall after picking up their fourth straight win and eighth in their last 10 contests.

Saturday's opening set was tight -- reflected by four early ties and one lead change -- until the Blues opened up a nine-point advantage, 23-14, after ripping off six points in succession. Codie Conching contributed a pair of aces and a kill during the decisive surge.

The Pioneers helped to seal their own fate in that span with two double hits and a lift.

Lewis & Clark jumped out to a 7-1 lead in game two and were able to stave off two Blues' rallies that closed the gap to one. A termination by Dickey brought the score to 9-8 and a Pios' hitting error made it 10-9.

Whitman would draw no closer than two points the rest of the set (12-10, 16-14, and 20-18).

Set three proved to be a dandy as the teams tied on 10 occasions, the last time at 17-17, before a session-ending 8-3 run elevated the Blues to a two-games-to-one lead. Dickey and Megan Henry had two kills apiece while Temel and Elyse Benavides had one each.

The stubborn Pios hung with the Blues in game four until a couple of 3-0 runs helped Whitman gain control. The first ended with the Blues up 17-12 and the latter resulted in a 20-13 score. Sierra Myers keyed the mid-game run with back-to-back aces, and Dickey and Henry ripped a kill apiece to help grow the lead to seven.

Whitman closed things out with four of the last five points of the set.

The Blues end the regular season with NWC road matches against Linfield on Nov. 3 and Pacific the following night.