Setptembre Russell

Copy editor

Wildcat volleyball asserted itself during an impressive showing on the road last weekend when it traveled to Portland to play top-ranked Lewis & Clark College on Oct. 24 and then to Salem to compete with Willamette University the following day.
Debut bouts with both opponents concluded in three-set successes; this time around, both games resulted in Linfield wins.
Against Lewis & Clark, the ’Cats captured the win in four sets, scoring 25-19, 19-25, 25-17 and 25-23. The team was also victorious against Willamette in three sets with scores of 25-16, 25-21 and 25-14.
Four matches remain for the ’Cats in the Northwestern Conference before regionals, including tonight’s battle with Pacific University in the Ted Wilson Gymnasium at 7 p.m.
The Wildcats faced Lewis & Clark without the utility of freshman outside hitter Samantha Lau, who was out with strep throat.
“We all did really well for not having her in,” freshman outside hitter Tara Hill said.
Hill led the evening with 16 kills followed by 12 from senior outside hitter Kelsey French. Junior and freshman middle blockers Emily Vuylsteke and Rosa Gimson put in 11 and 10 kills, respectively.
Defensively, senior libero Rachel Rahn completed 17 digs and Hill added 12.
“It was a great win for us,” head coach Shane Kimura said. “We beat Lewis & Clark the first time, but they were tied for first on Friday night when we beat them.”
Hill said winning its first match against Lewis & Clark gave the team a boost of confidence.
“We kind of knew we could do it; we just decided to really buckle down and do the job,” she said. “We just needed to do what we did last time.”
Lau returned to the lineup Oct. 25 and tallied 12 kills and 16 digs for the ’Cats. Vuylsteke put in 10 kills, and Rahn made 14 digs against Willamette.
Junior setter Stephanie Purser added 30 assists.
Hill said their game that evening was not their strongest, but their passing was better than it was against Lewis & Clark.
“We had a lot of energy on Friday night and the bench really contributed to that,” Hill said. “It’s a lot easier to play when you’re talking and have energy on the court because when you don’t, it just brings down the team.”
The Wildcats started the season with four non-conference wins and began its conference competition to end up on the losing side of its first two games. Redemption after an early defeat was reached when the team matched up its wins to losses against Lewis & Clark and Willamette on Oct. 24 and 25.
Amid the record recovery was a loss to George Fox University, in which they trailed by daunting streaks.
The ’Cats’ back-to-back victories against Pacific University and Whitman College on Oct. 4 and Oct. 10 were followed by consecutive losses against Whitworth University on Oct. 11, Pacific Lutheran University on Oct. 17 and the University of Puget Sound on Oct.18. Despite triple losses, Linfield was able to even its number of wins to losses with its weekend successes.
“I think once you, win you have confidence for the next game,” Hill said. “Once we get on a winning streak, it really helps because we also learn what’s helping us so we can continue to use those strategies.”
Hill said the ’Cats stepped down to their opponents’ level and could have outdone George Fox the first time. She said if the ’Cats play to their potential, they should be able to beat George Fox.
The Wildcats have had a good rivalry with George Fox, Kimura said.
“Generally, we played pretty well against them at home, so hopefully that comes through,” he said.
A win against the Bruins will solidify third or fourth place in the conference, Kimura said.
“You can come into a game not knowing what is going to happen,” Hill said. “As far as I know, the last team could honestly beat the first team, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to anybody.”
Kimura said the team’s goal was always to win the conference, but because of too many losses this season, it doesn’t look like the team would have a chance.
“We’re just focusing on each game, playing as hard as we can,” he said. “If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, we can go out hopefully and take care of the last four games.”