Wolves End Road Trip with Loses to Simpson and Pacific at the Pacific University Classic
Paul Starkebaum, Sports Information Director
College Place, Wash.-The Wolves finished up their four-day road trip today with two matches at the Pacific University Classic. Walla Walla (0-7, 0-4) took Simpson University (3-4) to four sets (16-26, 19-25, 25-22, 23-25) in their first match of the day, but came up just short of pushing it into the fifth set. The afternoon match pitted the Wolves against the Boxers of Pacific University (6-4), but Walla Walla was unable to get momentum going and lost the match in three straight sets (11-25, 11-25, 22-25).
The Wolves saw their most consistent play of the season against the Red hawks, limiting mistakes and strong performances out of Emily Allen with 10 kills, with Maria Darling and Melissa Barton each contributing 7 kills. Simpson was able to control the first two sets by limiting errors, committing only three in the first set and six in the second.
The third set Walla Walla totaled 14 kills to Simpson’s 9. Setters Krista Schafer and Nilah Mata’afa shined late, and both finished with 15 sets a piece. Unfortunately for the Wolves the first set went to the Red Hawks after a back and forth match. Miranda Cook had the last kill of the match for the Red Hawks, as they took a 22-25 victory and sealed the deal. Aimee Belleville lead the Red Hawks with 11 kills, followed by Ashley Cervantes with 10.
In the second match of the day Pacific University came out hot and the Wolves did not get back into it until the third set. The Boxers only committed four errors through the first two sets, and took both with a score of 25-11.
Walla Walla finished the match with a stronger performance in the third set. Morgan Doyle (7 kills) and Lauren Barlow (6 kills) played well down the stretch, and outside of a couple of runs by the Boxers the Wolves were never out of the match but eventually lost 22-25. Tiare Kaopua finished with 10 kills and Ellie Parker with 17 assists for the Boxers.
The Wolves get a few days off, as they face off against Northwest Christian University on Friday September 16 and Corban University on the 18
th, next weekend. The Wolves only have one more non-conference game left on the schedule and are headed into the heart of league play.