WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Starting their annual trip to eastern Washington, the Linfield Wildcats fell 3-0 to the Whitman Blues on Friday night as Maya Nakasone kept her pace of sixth in the Northwest Conference in digs per set with 12 on Friday night.
 
Losing the first meeting of the season in McMinnville, Oregon, the Blues had a big first set winning in 25-8, starting the match on a 7-0 run.
 
The Wildcats adjusted to the match in the second set and went up 4-1 on an assisted block by Kara Thomas and Hannah Waterman, but the Blues won the next five points to take the lead.
 
Linfield used a 5-0 run in the middle of the second to jump up 14-9 on kills by Waterman and Aylea Dixon, but Whitman won five of the last six points of the match to win the second set, 25-22.
 
The Blues jumped to an 8-5 lead in the third, but the 'Cats came right back to tie the set on a kill by Lori Cimmiyotti.
 
Trailing 17-14 in the third set, Whitman won 11 of the next 13 points to close out the match with a 25-19 win in the third set.
 
Raelynn Hammock played just two sets but managed to have seven kills and Dixon had 17 assists.
 
Cimmiyotti and Waterman had two blocks each as the primary middle blockers for the Wildcats.
 
Dixon extended her lead atop the NWC in aces per set with three on Friday night, the Yamhill, Oregon, native is averaging 0.57 aces per set this season.
 
Nakasone is among the top defensive players in the NWC, she is currently sixth in the NWC with 4.14 digs per set in her freshman season.
 
Whitman and Linfield split the season series, with each team defending homecourt, both teams are at the bottom of the NWC standings.
 
UP NEXT
The Linfield Wildcats head to Spokane, Washington, to take on the NWC leading Whitman Blues on Saturday night.