McMINNVILLE, Ore. – It was as exciting as Senior Night gets, but the Linfield volleyball team fell short of the reverse sweep in a five-set loss to Pacific Saturday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
Pacific won by scores of 25-21, 25-17, 26-28, 23-25 and 15-7. The Boxers totaled 56 kills, 54 assists, 122 digs and 11 blocks. The Wildcats finished with 51 kills, 50 assists, 94 digs and 10 blocks.
The Wildcats and Boxers traded points the entire first set before the Boxers put it away for the 25-21 win. The second set was tied at 9-9, but the Boxers went on a 6-0 run to make it 15-9 and never looked back, maintaining their lead for the 25-17 win.
The two teams were neck and neck in the third set, tied at 18-18. The Boxers pulled away to make it 21-18, but the 'Cats clawed back to tie it at 22 apiece. The 'Cats would eventually fight their way to a 28-26 win. The 'Cats rode a 5-0 run to get off to a 17-13 lead in the fourth set. The Boxers cut the lead to two, but the 'Cats slammed the door for the 25-23 win.
Pacific left no doubt in the fifth set, running away with the 15-7 win and the five-set victory. Mara Murphy racked up 22 kills with 20 digs to go with a .129 hitting percentage. Elika Unti also had double digit kills with 11 while Carissa Ramirez had nine. Shaianne Cambra had a match-high 46 assists while Haley Walz had a match-high 39 digs.
Linfield junior outside hitter
Raelynn Hammock finished with a career-high 28 kills. The mark is tied for third all-time in program history for kills in a single match. Hammock's 95 attack attempts tied the program record. She also tallied 17 digs to go with a .168 hitting percentage.
Senior outside hitter
Regan Dean had 10 kills with three digs. Junior setter
Aylea Dixon led the team with 25 assists while junior libero
Maya Nakasone had 28 digs.
Linfield volleyball celebrated three players on Senior Night. Dean, a fifth-year senior, has been a mainstay since arriving as a freshman in 2017. Junior middle blocker
Seraiah Ochse and sophomore defensive specialist
Yssa Alcones also had strong tenures with the program as they will move on to bigger and better things at Linfield's nursing campus in Portland.
NEXT
Linfield dropped to 5-15 overall and 1-13 in Northwest Conference play. The 'Cats will host Pacific Lutheran in their final home match of the season on Friday before ending their season at George Fox on Saturday.
