WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Elyse Benavides drilled a career-high 16 kills at an impressive .351 hitting clip, but it came in a loss as the Whitman College women's volleyball team fell in four sets to Pacific Lutheran, Saturday night in Northwest Conference play at the Sherwood Center. Set scores were 25-14, 16-25, 25-22, 25-21.

Benavides eclipsed her career high, set back in her freshman season, in a tight third set but couldn't put the Blues (2-14, 2-8 NWC) over the edge. Claire McCarthy led Whitman with 15 digs, Emma Anderson posted 12 more and Christina Boxberger added 10 kills.

Danielle Skibiel led the Lutes (12-10, 7-3 NWC) with 13 kills and 13 digs. 

Set one saw the Lutes take an early lead and never let the Blues creep back in. PLU took advantage of a series of ball handling errors to build a 6-2 lead. The Blues kept the deficit within six points but a late 6-0 run sealed the set. A pair of Emily Dulaney kills aided the run as the Lutes cruised to the early set lead.

The Blues flipped the script in set two with a dominant performance. A Boxberger kill and a McCarthy ace helped Whitman to an early 5-1 lead, but the Lutes rallied quickly. Hailey Iha drilled a pair of kills to give her team its first lead at 8-7. 

Whitman took control from then on. A 5-1 run capped by a Sofia Dominitz kill forced a PLU timeout which did little to stymie the momentum. Back-to-back kills from Benavides forced another timeout as the Blues ran away to even up the match.

Whitman had a shot to take the lead in the match as set three came down to the wire. Brooke Valentine won consecutive points off her serve to give her team a 21-17 lead but, on the heels of a kill and block from Savanna Service, the Lutes reeled off six straight to go up 23-21. A Benavides kill kept the Blues in the match but the Lutes got the last two points for the win.

Set four featured another tight battle but ended in another Lute win, this time clinching the match. Whitman trailed by three points late but back-to-back Boxberger kills kept the Blues in the set. Again the Lutes needed just two more points and got them for the win.

The Blues retake the court this week for a midweek home match against Whitworth on Wednesday. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m.

 

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