Lutes Bring Perfect NWC Record Back to Olson

THIS WEEKEND: Pacific Lutheran hosts Lewis & Clark at 7 p.m. Friday and Willamette at 7 p.m. Saturday in a pair of Northwest Conference matches.

LUTES MOVE UP ONE MORE SPOT: For the second consecutive week, Pacific Lutheran has moved up one spot in the AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Lutes are ranked No. 17 this week after being in the No. 18 spot one week ago and No. 19 a week prior to that. PLU has been ranked as high as No. 10 earlier this year.

LAST MATCHES OF FIRST ROUND: The Lutes play host to Lewis & Clark and Willamette in the final two conference matches of the first round. The Pioneers began the 2009 season on a sour note and quickly compiled a 0-4 non-conference record but since then have won nine of 10 matches. Lewis & Clark has risen to be one of the top teams in the conference with a 5-1 conference record, their only loss coming from Puget Sound. The Pioneers are ranked second in the NWC volleyball standings. Willamette holds a 2-4 conference record, with its last loss coming from Lewis & Clark in three straight sets. The Bearcats boast a freshman-filled team and are ranked sixth in the NWC volleyball standings. The Lutes are home this weekend after playing their last four conference matches on the road. They host Lewis & Clark at 7 p.m. Friday and Willamette at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

LAST WEEKEND: The Pacific Lutheran volleyball team finished another successful weekend after defeating conference opponents Whitman and Whitworth last weekend. Erin Bremond led a balanced PLU offense with nine kills, and she also was in on six block assists, as the Lutes beat host Whitworth 25-13, 25-9, 25-23 on Friday. Kelsie Moore added eight kills and Beth Hanna and Kelcy Joynt had seven kills each, while Sarah Beaver dished out 25 assists and Brenna Archibald had a match-high 10 digs. The Lutes never trailed in the first set after jumping to a quick 6-0 lead. PLU hit .385 as a team, while Whitworth struggled to a -.074 percentage. PLU got even hotter in the second set, hitting .522 as a team with only a single attack error in the stanza. The set was tied 4-4 before PLU went on a 14-1 run on the way to a 25-9 final. PLU looked like it might make short work of the third set also after taking a 5-1 lead, but the Pirates fought back to tie the set 11-11 on Bree Riddle's service ace. The score remained close the rest of the way with the final tie coming at 22-22 after a kill by Whitworth's Tracy Schwada. Katy Tauscher ended the set at 25-23 with a kill after a Pirate over-pass. PLU notched another victory Saturday against the Whitman Missionaries, 25-16, 25-17, 25-19. Hanna collected a match-high 13 kills and also hit .265 to lead the Lutes. Joynt also had a strong performance with 11 kills, a .276 hitting percentage and 10 digs. Beaver finished with 25 assists and Archibald led the team with 13 digs. "Anytime you go east and get two wins is great," said PLU head coach Kevin Aoki. "The travel can get to teams if you let it be a factor.

LUTE NOTES: The Lutes are currently 6-0 in conference and have yet to drop a set in a conference match this season. PLU currently leads the Northwest Conference in hitting percentage (.220), assists per set (11.5) and kills per set (12.54), and maintains the first place slot in the Northwest Conference volleyball standings.

ON A ROLL: Pacific Lutheran's streak of sweeping conference opponents in three sets is equal to that of the 2007 season. At one time during the season, the 2007 volleyball team won six consecutive conference matches without going into a fourth set. PLU ended its season winning an incredible 12-of-16 conference matches in three sets. The 2009 Lutes are on a similar path as they are currently tied with the 2007 team with winning six successive matches in three sets.

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