News Release Date:
Wednesday, November 4

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Senior Alex Graves and first-year Missionaries Courtney Brewer and Carrie Cecil combined to slam a total of 28 kills as Whitman College swept a 3-0 Northwest Conference volleyball decision (25-18, 25-23, 25-19) from Whitworth University Wednesday night in Spokane, Wash.  

Carrie Cecil

Sophomore Katie Miller, who leads the NWC in service aces, served four balls to the floor to add to Whitman's offensive attack.

Graves paced Whitman with 10 kills and 13 digs, but Brewer and Cecil had nine kills apiece while hitting .400 and .350, respectively.

Olivia Nielson, another first-year Missionary, contributed six kills in just 12 attempts, and junior setter Katie Richards ran the balanced attack with 32 assists.

Whitman hit .257 as a team, its best percentage since a four-game victory over Willamette in September. 

Junior libero Kelsie Butts keyed the back-row defense with 12 digs. Brewer had three of Whitman's 10 block assists at the net.

A Cecil kill and Butts service ace gave Whitman the first two of game one as the Missionaries led from start to finish. Kills by Graves and Cecil generated leads of 9-4 and 12-6, and Richards slipped in a kill of her own to make the score 18-10.

After another kill by Graves pushed the Missionary advantage to 22-12, Nielson finished the game a few plays later with a kill on the 25th point.

Sparked by two Brewer kills and two Miller service aces, Whitman jumped in front 8-3 to start game two. Whitworth scrambled back to even the set at 9-9, the first of a dozen tie scores that punctuated the rest of the game. 

With the two sides deadlocked at 23-23, Graves slammed a kill and then served an ace to stake the Missionaries to a 2-0 lead in games.

Game three was knotted at 4-4 when a balanced Whitman attack triggered a 9-4 spurt that vaulted the visitors into a 13-8 lead. The run included three kills by Brewer, two by Nielson and one each by Cecil and another first-year player, Rachel Shober.

Left to right: Alex Graves, Olivia Nielson, Rachel Shober

The Missionary charge continued behind kills from Brewer and Graves, who also met at the net for a block. But with Whitman ahead 19-13, the Pirates quickly closed to within two points at 19-17 and pulled close again at 21-19. 

After a Whitworth attack error gave the next point to Whitman, Nielson teamed first with Cecil and then with Shober for blocks that had the Missionaries on the verge of victory at 24-19. Cecil's kill polished off the win.

Whitworth, which has enjoyed a late-season resurgence, saw its record fall to 5-10 in the NWC and 9-17 on the season. 

Whitman, now 2-13 in conference and 5-17 overall, plays its season finale on Saturday when it hosts Pacific. That match starts at 5 p.m. in Sherwood Center.

Box score

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu