No. 7 Linfield Bests Puget Sound, 3-1

Linfield's volleyball team returns home Saturday to take on Pacific.

Kelsey French Photo: Linfield College

TACOMA, Wash. - Seventh-ranked Linfield used a big block and multiple hitters to push its way to a four-game victory over Northwest Conference preseason favorite Puget Sound Friday night at Memorial Fieldhouse. The scores were 30-32, 30-27, 30-25 and 30-21.

Three hitters collected double-digit kills to pace a balanced Linfield attack. Outside hitter Kelsey French and middle blocker Lauren Kreiger accounted for 13 and 12 kills, respectively.

Katelyn Baker added 11 on the night. Freshman Lindsey Denman led the Loggers with 14 kills and Monica Groves added 12. Chelsey Gellatly had 42 assists for Linfield while Jamee Fred had 43 for Puget Sound.

Game 1 featured eight ties and seven lead changes with neither team gaining more than a four-point advantage. The Loggers led 25-21 when the Wildcats surged to a two-point lead with three cosecutive blocks, a service ace and two Logger errors. UPS trailed by two, but Groves collected another kill, and Eggers added a service ace to keep the Loggers in the game. Knotted at 30, a Denman kill and a service ace by Jamee Fred gave the Loggers the first-game win, 32-30.

French came to life in Game 2, collecting six kills and pushing the Wildcats to the 30-27 win. Linfield had 19 kills while hitting .240 at the net, compared with the Loggers’ 12 kills and.111 hitting percentage.

Game 3 was another tight affair as the teams traded points early on. Molly Taylor collected four kills for the ‘Cats and Denman had four for the Loggers. Puget Sound fought back from a six-point deficit three times but could get no closer than four as Linfield put the game away with a Baker kill. The hosts talliled 15 kills in the game but committed 12 hitting errors.

Linfield led from wire to wire in the deciding game, winning by nine points. The clubs dead even in nearly every statistical category. Puget Sound collected 56 kills while the Wildcats had 55. The Loggers had 81 digs on the night led by libero Rachel Gross’ 32. Linfield dig 80 balls, including 16 by Michelle Wyatt and 15 by Gellatly.

Hannah Veley collected six of the Wildcats’ 14 service aces, four more than the Loggers. Linfield outhit Puget Sound .175 to .099.

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