No. 10 ‘Cats sweep Whitworth

Linfield plays Whitman in its second NWC match at an early start of 5:00 PM on Saturday

Photo: Linfield College

McMINNVILLE - Tenth-ranked Linfield struggled and surged to a Northwest Conference season-opening sweep of Whitworth Friday night.

Scores were 30-26, 30-23, 30-21 and it was over in less than 90 minutes, but it was not that easy.

Whitworth challenged repeatedly but seemed to self-destruct with errors each time the Pirates got close. They finished with 32 attack errors to Linfield’s 19 and had an attack percentage of .082, 70 points under Linfield’s .152.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 10 in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, improved to 8-0 overall.

Whitworth, which was 1-9 in preseason, took a 10-3 lead in the first game, causing Linfield coach Shane Kimura to call his first time out. The Wildcats took his advice to heart and scored nine straight points for a 12-10 lead.

One or two points separated the teams after that until Linfield scored five in a row – four on Whitworth errors – to take a 22-18 lead. Whitworth edged back to 28-26, but Lisa Brocard and Lauren Kreiger ended Game 1 with consecutive kills – Brocard down the line and Kreiger to the middle.

Linfield took a 9-2 lead in Game 2, including three kills in a row by Brocard, but Whitworth clawed back and scored five straight points to tie at 13.

It was 19-16 when the Wildcats broke it open on two Whitworth errors and consecutive aces by Meghan Flink for 23-16. A smash by Kreiger that Whitworth’s middle defense could not handle ended it 30-23.

In Game 3, Linfield went up 15-6 and Whitworth closed to four three times, including 24-20. The Wildcats finished like a top-10 team, scoring six of the last seven points. The run included kills by Chelsey Gellatly and Brocard, an ace by Michelle Wyatt for Point 29 and ended on Whitworth's 32nd attack error.

Whitworth’s Angie Florence was kill leader for the match with 12. Pirates Nikki Bardwell and Holly Tomlin added 10 each. Katelyn Baker led Linfield with 10; Kreiger, the Wildcats’ leading hitter, had nine.

Linfield’s Wyatt and Whitworth’s Cassie Moore were dig leaders, each with 18.

Kelsey French had three block assists.

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