Women's Volleyball Falls In Four At Willamette as NWC Tournament Race Tightens

Whitman Whitm 10-9,8-5 NWC

Willamette Willam 10-10,7-6 NWC

Whitman Whitm

10-9,8-5 NWC

Final

Oct. 30, 2026

Willamette Willam

10-10,7-6 NWC

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Whitman Whitm	25	23	21	24	(1)
Willamette Willam	22	25	25	26	(3)

Summary
Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 10/30/2026 10:45:00 PM

Women's Volleyball Falls In Four At Willamette as NWC Tournament Race Tightens

SALEM, Ore. — In a pivotal matchup with huge playoff implications, The Whitman College women's volleyball team won the first set but dropped the next three, falling in four sets to Willamette in Northwest Conference action on Friday at Cone Field House. Set scores were 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 26-24.

The two teams are fighting for the fourth and final spot in the NWC Tournament. Willamette (10-10, 7-6 NWC) moved within one game of Whitman (10-9, 8-5 NWC) in the standings with three matches left in the regular season.

The Blues held a 19-14 lead in the fourth set and looked ready to force a fifth. Willamette answered with four straight points, and the set was tied at 20, 21 and 24. Kendall Herman's kill made it 24-24. A Whitman service error and a Tessa Reed block on the next rally ended the match.

Sammy Holmer led Whitman with a double-double of 17 kills and 18 digs. She hit .231 and had a team-high 25 receptions. Arina Gushchina added 13 kills and a team-best 20 digs. Sophie Broesamle had seven kills, Herman added five and Rowyn Lee had four kills and two block assists.

Haylee Pruse had 21 assists and 14 digs, and Melia Ferraro added 17 assists. Libero Lexie Uchima had 19 digs and a service ace. Kyndal Koski had nine digs.
Whitman took the first set 25-22. The Blues led 21-18 and 24-21, and Gushchina ended it with a kill.

Willamette went up 12-6 in the second set. Whitman came back to tie it at 20 but could not get even again, and the Bearcats won 25-23 to level the match. In the third set, Willamette pulled ahead 17-11. Holmer had three straight kills to cut it to 21-18, but the Bearcats won 25-21.

Lexie Scott led Willamette with 25 kills, and Abbi Bailey hit .409 with 11 kills. Leina Chu had 23 assists, and Lylah Worsley added 24 assists and two aces. Libero Dream Takemoto had 22 digs.

Willamette outhit Whitman .179 to .140 and had 60 kills to the Blues' 46. Willamette had 14 service errors to Whitman's seven. The match had 19 ties and five lead changes.

The Blues will look to close out the weekend with a split when they visit Puget Sound on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

#GoWhitman

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