The Wildcat volleyball team had some highs and lows this past weekend as they faced Pacific Lutheran and George Fox.

On Friday the Wildcats played Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma, Wash., ending the night with a loss.

The Wildcats struggled until the end, playing four sets. Despite the outcome, the Wildcats still played well with 12 kills from sophomore Darian Stedman, and nine kills from both senior Molly McTaggart and sophomore Taylor Peterson.

After losing the first set 25-23, the Wildcats won the second set 20-25. They fell behind again in the next two sets, losing 25-20 and 25-22.

“I felt that the games this weekend went extremely well, even if we didn’t come out on top in our match against PLU. We battled, played hard and played our game. We had nothing to hang our heads about. We’ll get them at home,” Peterson said.

On Saturday, Linfield came back strong in an away game against George Fox. The Wildcats crushed the Bruins 25-9 in the first set.

McTaggart once again helped lead the Wildcats to victory with eight kills. Both Peterson and Stedman also played a big role in Saturday’s victory with seven kills each.

The Wildcats won the next two sets as well, 25-14 and 25-18, gaining them their first Northwest Conference sweep of this year’s season.

“I’m extremely proud of us for never giving up and playing hard each match regardless of the ones before,” Peterson said.

“Our preseason was amazing. We started off 5-1 and played really well. Once we got into conference, we struggled, which I’m not sure why. With that being said, I feel that we have done nothing but progress. We are beginning to find our groove and play our game, which is nice,” she said.

This victory brings Linfield volleyball’s conference record to 2-6 and their overall record to 7-7.

“It’s been a little up and down for us, but we have been working super hard to be where we need to be for the second half of the season,” Huffaker said.

“We just have to keep working hard and staying positive, finding the energy for the game again.”

“I feel that this second half of conference will be completely different than the first. We may have been stuck in a rut, but that doesn’t mean we quit. If there’s one thing that I know about this team, is that we do not quit and refuse to go down without a fight. I look forward to watching us finish out the season the way we can and having fun every step of the way,” Peterson said.

The Wildcats will battle the Willamette Bearcats at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the Ted Wilson Gym.