McMINNVILLE, Ore. – The Catzone student section was in full force Friday night in Linfield volleyball's home opener, but the Wildcats fell in a thrilling five-set match to open Northwest Conference play at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
Willamette won the back-and-forth battle by scores of 26-24, 22-25, 25-15, 22-25 and 15-12.
Both teams traded punches in the first set. Willamette broke away for a 14-10 lead, but Linfield bounced back to tie it at 15-all. The Wildcats led 22-20 before the Bearcats took four of the next five points to go up 24-23, holding on to win the set 26-24.
The Wildcats caught fire early in the second set, opening with a 5-0 run then extending the gap to 12-2, their largest lead of the match. Willamette quietly worked its way back to cut the Linfield lead to two (16-14), but the home team kept its foot on the gas for the 25-22 win.
The third set was even through the first 20 rallies. But it was all Willamette after that with the Bearcats pulling away for a convincing 25-15 win. The Wildcats turned the tides to win set No. 4 by a score of 25-22 to force a highly anticipated fifth set.
Linfield stormed back from four points down in set No. 5 to tie it at 11-all, but in the end, the Willamette attack stayed strong to slam the door on a 15-12 win to take the match.
The Wildcats amassed 45 kills, 43 assists and 71 digs while racking up 12 service aces and 15 blocks, which rank tied for 10
th in Linfield history for blocks in a single match.
A dynamic duo of
Raelynn Hammock and
Marina Erosa is starting to form on the outside. Hammock totaled 14 kills on 55 attempts to go with 16 digs. Erosa finished with 11 kills, 10 digs and a .225 hitting percentage.
Kara Thomas just missed double digits with nine kills on 30 attempts.
The Wildcats are showing some depth in the middle, led by seniors
Ellie Mead and
Megan Stanek. Mead set a new career high with nine total blocks, surpassing her previous high of five. Stanek also established a new career high with four blocks, two solo.
NEXT
The Wildcats (4-3, 0-1 NWC) will be right back in action Saturday night, hosting Lewis & Clark on Homecoming night. The match is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
