By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Lexi Martin (Jr., MH, Bellevue, WA/Interlake HS) earned 10 kills with a .444 hitting percentage and registered three block assists, while Dani Queja (Jr., OH, Ewa Beach, HI/Maryknoll School) led the Bearcats with 12 kills and three service aces, as Willamette University defeated Lewis & Clark College, 25-16, 25-23, 25-17, in Northwest Conference action on Saturday, Oct. 30. The win at Cone Field House improved Willamette to 8-11 on the season, 4-9 in the NWC. Lewis & Clark fell to 5-11 overall, 4-7 in the NWC.
The Bearcats were able to put together key runs in all three sets. Willamette finished the sweep with a 40-26 margin in kills and a 10-7 edge in service aces. WU also held a slim 51-50 advantage in digs. Both teams were credited with 5.0 team total blocks.
Olivia Cadien (Fy., OH, Mesa, AZ/Chandler Preparatory Academy) added eight kills for the Bearcats, while setter Emma Porter (Jr., S, Honolulu, HI/Mid-Pacific Institute) contributed five kills with no attacking errors for a .417 attack percentage. In addition, Porter supplied 30 assists, 10 digs, and two block assists. Shyla Sato (Jr., LIB, Honolulu, HI/MId-Pacific Institute) earned a match-high 15 digs, while Kela Iwata (Sr., LIB, Honolulu, HI/Kalani HS) accumulated 10 digs.
Izzy Willis led L&C with 10 kills. Kelsey Parker pounded out six kills and registered eight digs. Katie Shimaura made 12 digs for the Pioneers. Michelle McGinn dished out 14 assists.
Willamette hit .196 as a team and limited the Pioneers to a .121 hitting percentage. The Bearcats reached double-digit kill totals in each set, with 10 in the first set, 16 in the second, and 14 in the third.
The Bearcats fell behind 3-1 in the first set. L&C also held a 7-4 lead, before Willamette went on a 7-2 run to claim an 11-9 advantage. The Pioneers recovered to take a 13-12 lead, but WU responded by scoring on eight consecutive rallies for a 20-13 lead. Steele Jasa (Jr., S/LIB, Bend, OR/Summit HS) served during the final seven points of the offensive surge and earned two aces. The run also featured two kills each by Martin and Queja. L&C reduced the margin to 20-15 on a kill by Willis. A 5-1 run by Willamette closed out the set.
In the second set, the teams stayed close on the scoreboard through an 11-11 tie on a kill by Willis. The Bearcats used a 4-0 run to grab a 15-11 lead. Queja and Martin each registered a kill during the run. The Pioneers kept Willamette from pulling away, but the Bearcats never relinquished the lead. L&C pulled within one point four times from 21-20 until 24-23. Martin scored the final point in Willamette's 25-23 win with a kill assisted by Porter.
Willamette held a 10-5 advantage in the third set. The Pioneers came back to secure a 13-12 lead on a service ace by Shimaura. L&C also led 16-14 on a combo block by Parker and Cameryn Nagaji. The Bearcats surged back into the lead with a 4-0 run on a kill by Porter, an ace from Sato, a kill by Martin, and a kill from Kaiona Apio (So., OH, Edmonds, WA/Edmonds-Woodway HS). Parker earned a kill on the next rally to cut WU's lead to 18-17. A kill by Martin followed, and the Bearcats added six more points in a row to end the match with a 25-17 win.
The Bearcats are set to play at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, on Friday, Nov. 5. Match time is slated for 7 p.m. (PDT).
