LA VERNE, Calif. – Linfield volleyball returned to Oregon from a successful showing at the Pacific Coast Classic on Friday and Saturday in La Verne and Claremont, California.
 
The Wildcats opened the tournament with a split on Friday, beating New England College 3-1 in the morning before falling to host La Verne in straight sets in the afternoon.
 
Linfield came out top in both matches Saturday morning, winning back-to-back sets to top Whittier in five sets before dominating a 3-1 win over Redlands.
 
Match 1: Linfield 3, New England 1
Linfield dropped the second set but bounced back for a 25-11, 18-25, 27-25, 28-26 victory over the Pilgrims at the University of La Verne's Sports Science and Athletics Pavilion.
 
Senior outside hitter Raelynn Hammock picked up right where she left off in 2021, tallying a match-high 25 kills for a .388 hitting percentage. The Honorable Mention All-NWC selection from a season ago also finished with double digit digs with 13.
 
Newcomers Marina Erosa and Ryli Kalahiki just missed double digits with nine kills apiece. Both contributed eight digs while Paige Richards set a new career high with 25.
 
The Wildcats totaled 69 points, 54 kills, seven aces, eight blocks, 51 assists and 64 digs. Ellie Mead and Megan Stanek, who has made the transition to middle blocker, had four blocks apiece. Setter Aylea Dixon is already distributing the ball well to open the season as the senior had 35 assists against the Pilgrims.
 
Match 2: La Verne 3, Linfield 0
The ball fell La Verne's way as the host Leopards ran away with a 25-16, 25-16, 30-28 sweep.
 
The Leopards racked up 45 kills, 41 assists, 33 digs, eight aces and five blocks in the match. They were led offensively by 13 kills from Mya Ray. Madison Smith had 12 digs while Jordyn Patton (20) and Emily Heldenbrand (19) finished with double digit assists.
 
Hammock led the Wildcat offense again but fell just short of a double-digit performance with nine kills on 19 attempts. She led the team with nine digs. Erosa had seven kills to help Hammock on the attack to go along with her eight digs.
 
Stanek performed well at the net again, leading the team with three blocks while Dixon dished out 20 assists.
 
Match 3: Linfield 3, Whittier 2
Hammock was back in full force against the Poets, leading the 'Cats to a come-from-behind 25-23, 18-25, 24-26, 25-21, 15-7 win at Pomona-Pitzer's Voelkel Gymnasium.
 
The senior went off for 24 kills, just missing her tournament high of 25 from Friday's win over New England. She also crushed her previous career high of 20 digs with 30 in the five-set win over the Poets.
 
Erosa started to come into her own with 13 kills on 38 attempts. Mead totaled nine kills while Richards and Dixon contributed 19 and 15 digs, respectively. Dixon also added 42 assists to her stat line.
 
Match 4: Linfield 3, Redlands 1
Mead led the charge in the Wildcats' 25-19, 25-16, 17-25, 25-19 win over the Bulldogs at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Roberts Pavilion.
 
The senior middle blocker established a new career high with 13 kills on 18 attempts for a .611 hitting percentage. She also had three blocks.
 
Erosa was a solid No. 2 option on offense once again with her 10 kills on a .474 hitting percentage to go with five digs. Hammock added seven kills, five digs and five aces. Dixon distributed 30 assists while newcomer Claire Johnson had seven.
 
NEXT
The 'Cats (3-1) will compete in another tournament this week, playing Austin College on Friday and UC-Santa Cruz on Saturday in the Oregon Trail Classic, hosted by Pacific University in Forest Grove.
 
Northwest Conference play begins on Sept. 16 against Willamette at Linfield's Ted Wilson Gymnasium.
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