McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield had a tough time navigating the tall front line of Whitworth on Friday night at Ted Wilson Gymnasium. The Pirates (8-7, 5-2) feature multiple players over six feet, who guided their offense to a straight-sets victory over the Wildcats 19-25, 20-25, 20-25.
The Wildcats combined for 26 kills, on a .039 hitting percentage, 40 digs, 26 assists, nine serving aces.
Araeya Watanabe led the team in kills with seven.
Nora Myre and
Paige Pa'aluhi led the defense with nine digs each.
Claire Johnson accounted for 20 assists.
The Wildcats built a nine-point lead in the first set behind seven serving aces. The Pirates battled back to take the set, behind 11 kills and four blocks. Whitworth grabbed the second set with 15 more kills on a hitting percentage of .250. Ella Jimenez totaled seven kills in the set for Whitworth.
Marina Erosa provided a spark for Linfield in the third set tallying three kills. However, Whitworth had too much firepower on offense, combining for 14 more kills.
The Pirates totaled 40 kills, on a .298 hitting percentage, 43 digs, 36 assists, five serving aces and 11 blocks. Jimenez led the Pirates with 16 kills while teammates Josephine Thompson and Mya Rodriguez each finished with 16 assists. Taylor Miche finished with 15 digs.
NEXT
The Wildcats move to 6-8 and 2-5 in Northwest Conference play. Linfield returns to Ted Wilson Gymnasium on Saturday when they host Whitman at 6 p.m.
