McMINNVILLE, Ore. – The Linfield volleyball team played a couple of hard-fought sets against Division II Saint Martin's, but the Saints held on for a 3-1 win on Tuesday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
Saint Martin's won by scores of 28-26, 25-22, 18-25 and 25-12. The Saints also beat the Wildcats in four sets on Sept. 21 in Lacey, Washington.
Both teams traded blows in the first set. The set was tied at 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26 before the Saints pulled away for the 28-26 win.
The second set was defined by runs. Saint Martin's went on a 5-0 run to make it 18-13. Linfield fought back with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 20-19, but the Saints took control for the 25-22 win.
The Wildcats got off to a 9-3 lead to open the third set and then extended their lead to 16-8. The Saints went on a 10-4 run in a comeback attempt, but the 'Cats clawed back with a 4-0 run of their own and won the set, 25-18, on an attack error by the Saints.
It was all Saint Martin's in the fourth set as the Saints opened with eight straight points and never looked back, extending their lead to 19-6 and putting the match to bed at 25-12.
Saint Martin's totaled 49 kills, five aces, six blocks, 48 assists and 81 digs. Emily Gooding led the Saints offensively with 15 kills on a .225 hitting percentage with 12 digs. Tia Allen and Jennifer Soha had nine kills apiece while Analise Hitchcock racked up 40 assists.
Linfield junior outside hitter
Raelynn Hammock finished with double digit kills for the eighth straight match. She recorded 16 kills, 10 digs and three blocks, one solo. Hammock ranks third in the Northwest Conference with 3.46 kills per set.
Senior outside hitter
Regan Dean registered eight kills while junior middle blocker
Ellie Mead had six. Setters
Aylea Dixon and
Mia Naccarato tallied 16 assists apiece while junior libero
Maya Nakasone had a team-high 21 digs.
NEXT
Linfield fell to 4-12 overall and remains 0-10 in Northwest Conference play. The 'Cats will return to NWC play and hit the road for Eastern Washington, playing at first-place Whitworth on Friday and at Whitman on Saturday.
