WALLA WALLA, Wash. — Arina Gushchina recorded a match-high 13 kills and hit .571 as Whitman College opened Northwest Conference play with a straight-set victory over Lewis & Clark on Friday night at the Sherwood Center.
The Blues won 25-14, 25-19, 25-14 to improve to 3-4 overall and 1-0 in Northwest Conference play. Lewis & Clark fell to 4-5 overall and 1-1 in conference.
Whitman hit .313 as a team, collecting 37 kills against 11 attacking errors in 83 attempts. Gushchina made only one error on 21 swings, while Rowyn Lee added six kills on 10 attempts for a .600 hitting percentage.
Haylee Pruse directed the offense with 26 assists and added seven digs. Addie Belt contributed seven kills, 11 digs and two total blocks, while Lauren Fogliani finished with three aces and four digs.
Whitman established control early in the opening set, using a 5-0 start behind two service aces from Nadia Shepherd. The Blues later closed the frame on a 10-1 run, with Sophie Broesamle serving four aces in the match, including two during the first-set surge.
Lewis & Clark kept the second set close, cutting Whitman's lead to 24-19 after scoring five consecutive points. Shepherd ended the rally with a kill to give the Blues the 25-19 win and a two-set advantage.
The third set was tied at 11 before Whitman took over. The Blues scored 11 of the next 13 points, with Gushchina delivering four kills during the stretch, to build a 22-13 lead. Whitman then finished the sweep on consecutive Lewis & Clark attack errors.
Whitman served 12 aces in the match and held Lewis & Clark to a .130 hitting percentage. Kaitlyn Jensen led the Pioneers with eight kills, while Isabel Melean-Williams added seven.
The Blues close out the weekend on Saturday evening against Linfield. First serve at the Sherwood Center is set for 6:00 p.m.
#GoWhitman
