By Mark Colachico, Interim Assistant Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, ORE. -- After a hard-fought loss last night, Willamette University's women's volleyball team rebounded with a four-set Northwest Conference victory, 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 14-25, 25-18), Saturday over Whitman College inside Cone Field House.

With the win, the Bearcats improve to 8-7 overall and 3-3 in the NWC. Meanwhile, the Missionaries drop to 6-9 overall and 2-4 in the NWC.

The trio of Elisa Ahern (Sr., OPP, Lake Forest Park, WA/Shoreline HS), Sarah Fincher (Jr., OH, Reno, NV/Bishop Manogue HS/Southwest Baptist Univ.), and Taylor Lum (So., MH/OH, Honolulu, HI/Maryknoll HS) led the Bearcats' offense with eight kills each, while Alida Holt (So., OH, Honolulu, HI/Roosevelt HS) added six kills for Willamette.

Lindsey Compton (Jr., OH/S, Portola, CA/Portola HS/Univ. of Hartford) ran the Bearcats' offense with a match-high tying 32 assists to go along with a team-high 17 digs, while Peyton Wahl (Fr., DS/LIB, Richland, WA/Richland HS) helped anchor Willamette's defense with 14 digs.

At the net, Taylor Gee (Sr., MH/OH, San Diego, CA/Rancho Bernardo HS) and Emma Liband (Fr., MH, Sandpoint, ID/Sandpoint HS) led the Bearcats with three blocks each. Willamette tallied 8.0 team blocks with six players registering at least two blocks apiece.

Whitman was led offensively by Megan Bafus with 11 kills, while Shae Kanakaole and Kaileah Aker added nine and eight kills, respectively. Anna Dawson handed out a match-high tying 32 assists for the Missionaries, while Hannah Linsenmayer registered a match-high 21 digs for Whitman.

The opening set was a back-and-forth battle for the opening 14 combined points until Willamette used a 9-2 run to pull ahead by seven points (16-9) on a kill by Alexa Dowdell (So., MH/OPP, Mililani, HI/Maryknoll HS). Even though Whitman pulled within a single point (18-17) via a 9-1 run, the Bearcats closed out the set on a 7-1 run that concluded on a combo block by Compton and Gee for the 25-18 victory.

Set #2 would begin with Whitman jumping out to a slim 7-4 lead before Willamette used a 12-4 run to pull ahead by five points (16-11) on a kill by Holt. The Bearcats would never relinquish their lead despite Fincher going down with an apparent head injury late in the set, as Willamette close out the second set on another Holt kill for the 25-21 victory.

Playing without Fincher, who is the reigning Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week, in the third set turned out to be costly for Willamette, as Whitman took advantage of the NWC's leading hitter being on the sideline recovering from her aforementioned injury. The Missionaries broke a 13-13 tie with a set-closing 12-1 run behind the serving of Linsenmeyer for the 25-14 victory.

The fourth and final set would see Fincher return to the lineup for Willamette, as the Bearcats showed life once again with the return of their star outside hitter. Willamette jumped out to a 12-7 lead before pushing its margin to seven points (19-12) on a combo block by Ahern and Liband. The Bearcats closed out the match on an 8-6 run resulting in the 25-18 victory and a four set with for Willamette.

As a team, Willamette hit .071 (42-32-141) compared to Whitman's .081 (40-29-136). The Bearcats recorded positive hitting numbers in Set #1, #2, and #4, while dropping into negative figures in the third set.

Willamette will return to action on Friday, Oct. 10, at Pacific Lutheran University beginning at 7 p.m. (PDT) in Parkland, Washington.

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