PORTLAND, Ore. Though already up a game in the match, Saturday night's 3-0 sweep of host Lewis & Clark College turned on a rousing Game 2 victory that propelled Whitman's Blues to a Northwest Conference women's volleyball victory at the Pioneers' Pamplin Sports Center.
Whitman (4-6, 3-3 NWC) gave up some late points to L&C (1-12, 0-6) in Game 1, but hung on for a 25-22 win behind a mid-match 7-0 run and a late 4-0 streak.
The Blues pushed in front for several of the early points in Game 2 but fell behind at 7-6 on a Kortney Meyer kill for the Pios.
Meyer's point began a four-point string gave her team an advantage that Whitman wasn't able to erase as the match wore on through its middle third.
At 18-16, however, a
Codie Conching kill finally brought the Blues even, and a service ace from
Cherokee Washington lifted Whitman back into the lead.
The four-point run that began with Conching's knock-down turned the match around, forcing an already-trailing Pios squad to realize the pressure had been turned back onto the home team.
Lewis & Clark didn't wilt, though, fighting back and actually serving for the game at 24-23 following another Meyer kill.
Brooke Randall was the Whitman answer, pounding out an attack to square things at 24 apiece.
A bad set on the L&C side pushed Whitman to its first game point, and drew a timeout call from the Pios.
This time the setting error occurred on the Whitman side, once again bringing the match even, at 25-25.
Kalli Dickey's kill off a set from
Anna Dawson provided the Blues with their second game point, but the Pios answered with a Makena Ohlmaier kill to thwart a Whitman win.
Sam Yorke served for L&C with a chance to take the lead, only to have Conching notch another kill and set up Whitman's third game point. And this time the Blues made good on their opportunity as Washington set up
Sierra Myers for a kill that completed the rally, at 28-26, and set up what the Blues hoped would be a sweep in the third.
An 8-0 run when trailing 5-3 in that third game turned things around for the Blues, and a 5-0 run in the middle of the game, to go up 15-7, started to put the nails in the coffin.
In the end, a pair of attacking errors by the Pios would provide Whitman with the match-winning points in its 25-15 Game 3 victory.
Conching, who hit double digits in kills during Friday's win at George Fox University, led all attackers Saturday at Lewis & Clark, chalking up 14 kills to go along with a service ace and a match-best 14 digs.
Dickey also reached double figures on the attack with 11 kills.
Defensively, two others -- Washington (12) and
Claire McCarthy (11) -- joined Conching by reaching double-figures in digs as the Blues came up with a total of 62 on the night.
The Blues will put their two-match win streak on the line at home for their next outings, facing Linfield College on Friday night and Pacific (Ore.) University on Saturday at the Sherwood Athletics Center.
