MCMINNVILLE, Ore – Starting five freshmen, the Linfield College Wildcats had a brand-new starting lineup that responded well early but fell to the Lewis & Clark Pioneers on Friday night.
 
Due to injuries, freshman Megan Pallas made her first career start and shined with three blocks and three assists.
 
In the first set, the Wildcats were able to grab a 12-10 lead thanks to a kill by Raelynn Hammock and two aces by Aylea Dixon, which forced the Pioneers to call a timeout.
 
Following the timeout, Lewis & Clark won the next three points to get the edge in the set. Linfield fought off two set points, but fell 25-23 in the first.
 
Being down 3-0 to start the second set, the Wildcats responded with a 5-0 run thanks to a kill by Hammock and an ace by Dixon.
 
With five aces tonight, Dixon now leads the Northwest Conference in service aces per set at 0.56.
 
Plenty of young Wildcats were in attendance on Friday night with the camper night for the volleyball program and Young Cats Club night for Linfield Athletics and they were served a close three-set affair.
 
Trailing 14-12 in the second set, the Pioneers won six straight points and went on to take a 2-0 lead with 25-19 set.
 
Linfield was up 18-15 in the third set thanks to a kill by Lori Cimmiyotti, but Lewis & Clark closed out the third set on a 25-20 to sweep the season series.
 
Maya Nakasone continued her consistency for the Wildcats with 12 digs, her average of 4.15 digs per set is sixth in the NWC.
 
To go along with her five aces, Dixon also had 21 assists with both her and Sofia Zielinski, the two setters on the team playing on the court at the same time. Zielinski had eight digs to go along with six assists.
 
Hammock led the way with 12 kills, while Megan Stanek had two blocks.
 
The Wildcats are now 5-18 overall and 1-10 in NWC play, while the Pioneers improve to 8-11 overall and 4-7 overall.
 
UP NEXT
Linfield travels up to Tacoma, Washington, to take Pacific Lutheran on Saturday night at 6 p.m., which starts a four-match road trip for Linfield before the final game of the season at home against Puget Sound on Nov. 9.