By Sara Brooks, Assistant Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6219

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University volleyball team defeated the visiting Pacific University Boxers in straight sets, 25-13, 25-17, 25-16 on Saturday, Oct. 24. Willamette climbs to 8-12 overall and 5-7 in the Northwest Conference. Pacific drops to 7-13 overall and 2-10 in the NWC.

Willamette jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first set and did not trail the entire set. The Bearcats ended the first set on a serving ace by junior Molly Blankenship (Priest River, ID/Lamanna HS/Spokane Falls CC). Blankenship's ace was one of four that WU registered during the first set. The Bearcats hit .500 as a team on their way to a 25-13 victory.

WU's strong hitting carried over into the second set as the Bearcats opened with back-to-back kills from seniors Jessie McGraw (OH/OPP, Gaston, OR/Yamhill-Carlton HS/Corban College) and Julie Stutzman (MH, Olympia, WA/Olympia HS). Willamette hit .242 in the set, compared to Pacific's .111 hitting percentage.

In the third and final set, Willamette trailed 9-11 before rallying to score ten of the next twelve points to take a 19-13 lead. Stutzman closed out the set and the match with the last of her ten kills. Willamette held Pacific to a .024 hitting percentage in the final set.

For the match, Willamette out hit Pacific, .312 to .064 as a team. The Bearcats recorded 43 total kills. McGraw led all players with 13 kills. She added a team high 12 digs and two serving aces. Stutzman, who finished with ten kills, hit .600 for the match. Blankenship accumulated nine kills and nine digs. Setter Brigit Miller (Fr., Olympia, WA/Olympia HS) finished the match with 35 assists.

Pacific was led by Christiana Chandler who registered ten kills. The Boxers had 26 kills in the match.

Willamette is back in action on Wednesday, Oct. 28 when they host visiting Linfield College. Match time is set for 7 p.m. (PDT) in Cone Field House. Willamette defeated Linfield, 3-1 earlier this season.