TACOMA, Wash. --- Linfield volleyball (4-7, 2-4 NWC) closed out the road trip to the Tacoma schools on Saturday, falling to the conference-leading Puget Sound Loggers (10-5, 6-0 NWC) in three sets.
Following a 3-3 tie to begin the opening set, the Loggers were able to pull out to a 17-9 lead over the Wildcats. Linfield entered Saturday's match after a late-night four-set match at PLU that featured both squads scoring 20+ in each set.
Once trailing 23-15, the 'Cats began to claw back into the set, going on a 6-1 run led by
Nora Myre and featured blocks by
Pi'ilani Hirahara,
Cam Coughlin, and
Madison Millard. Puget Sound captured two of the final three points to claim set one, 25-23.
Set two was all Loggers early, taking a commanding 16-6 lead over the Wildcats. UPS wouldn't let Linfield back into the set like they did in the first, extending their lead to two sets.
Linfield fought back to begin the third, staying within striking distance, trailing 9-8. The Wildcat offense was slowed by the Loggers in the net, as UPS lead a 5-0 run to get some breathing room from the Wildcats. The Puget Sound lead extended as late as 18-11, until Taliloa, Millard, and Myre took three-straight points. Following a Logger timeout, UPS grabbed the momentum again, shutting the door on the Wildcats, 25-16.
The 'Cats could not grab a win against two of the top-three teams in the conference in PLU and UPS during the road trip to Tacoma. Myre recorded 14 kills for a second-consecutive match, while Alefaio-Foifua earned 16 digs. The freshman libero has recorded over five digs per set in each of the matches over the weekend.
Volleyball is back in action next Friday in Portland, set to face the Lewis & Clark Pioneers at 7 p.m. for their third-straight game on the road.
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