Septembre Russell – Copy editor. The Wildcat volleyball team traveled to Washington last weekend and posted wins against Whitworth University on Sept. 18 and Whitman College on Sept. 19.
The ’Cats scored 25-17, 21-25, 25-22 and 25-12 against Whitworth; and 24-26, 25-17, 25-20 and 25-19 against Whitman.
“We knew that Whitworth was going to be a tough team to play,” senior middle blocker Emily Vuylsteke said.
For that reason, the team arrived mentally prepared to challenge the Pirates, she said.
During the fourth game, the ’Cats did not make it through an entire rotation on the court because of freshman outside hitter Katie Leavitt’s 14-consecutive serves.
“The game was pretty close,” head coach Shane Kimura said. “The score was 9-9. When she finished serving, it was 21-10.”
Linfield could neither score consistently against Whitman nor put up a run of points in the opener. The team dropped the opening set against the Missionaries, despite exhibiting tremendous offensive skill.
“We just didn’t have the momentum,” Vuylsteke said. “We realized we needed to come out stronger.”
The ’Cats gained some force, however. The team’s defense prevailed in the second game and throughout the remainder of the match.
The Wildcats held their opponent to a mere eight kills during the closing set.
Sophomore outside hitter Samantha Lau tallied 20 of the team’s 73 defensive digs.
Sophomore outside hitters Tara Hill and Leavitt contributed 19 and 14, respectively, while junior setter Emily Carpenter, the fourth player with double-digit defensive digs, added in 10.
Play for the evening featured 17 kills from Vuylsteke, 14 from Leavitt and 12 from sophomore middle back Rosa Gimson.
Kimura said the team served well and out-dug its opponent against Whitman.
The win against Whitman puts the Wildcat season at 5-4 overall.
“We had great success last weekend, and our goal last week was to work even harder to prepare for our first home game,” Vuylsteke said.
Next, the ’Cats take on Pacific Lutheran University at Ted Wilson Gymnasium at 7 p.m. Sept. 25.
PLU leads the Northwest Conference with a 3-0 record and a 7-5 overall record.
For a victory against PLU, Kimura said the ’Cats need to block as a team, since their opponents have consistent outside hitters. He added that this is the reason why they have been working on blocking and back-row defense during practice all week.