The Linfield volleyball team lost on Saturday night in four sets to Whitman College in the Ted Wilson Gymnasium. Whitman won all but the third set with scores of 20-25, 22-25, 25-18, 22-25. Whitman improved their conference record to 3-0 after tonight’s victory—Linfield dropped to 0-4 for conference play of the season.

Whitman started off strong in the first set, racking up some quick points until Linfield brought it to a tie at 14-14. Then, Linfield and Whitman went back and forth with only one point separation. In the last couple of plays in the set, Linfield made some errors, which gave Whitworth the momentum to take the first set 20-25.

The second set was a close match throughout. The Wildcats and the Blues fought hard for the entirety of the set, but Whitman took the second set as well, with a score of 22-25.

The third set was another nail-bitter. With the Wildcats coming in hot, they had all the momentum on their side leading the Blues 8-6. The Wildcats brought their lead to 19-14, which was the biggest lead for them of the night. Linfield then went on to take the set 25-18.

The Blues came out strong in the fourth set, getting a quick lead of 6-2. The blues had all the momentum on their side, leading by 5-6 points. The Wildcats then brought it to a tie at 15’s apiece. Linfield fought until the very end, eventually losing 22-25.

In the match, Linfield had a .136 hitting percentage, outhitting the Blues, whose percentage was .102. The Blues had 42 kills, led by junior Sophia Dominitz who had 10 on the night.

For Linfield, senior Regan Dean had 21 kills and Junior Seraiah Ochse had 10, bringing the Wildcats to 51 kills on the night. Freshman Paige Richards has 24 digs.

Up next, the Wildcats will travel to play against Lewis & Clark College at 7 p.m. on Friday, and then will head to Forest Grove, Ore. to play Pacific University at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

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