News Release Date:
Saturday, November 7

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- With three players reaching double digits in kills, Whitman College ended its women's volleyball season on a high note with a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-18, 32-30) of Pacific University Saturday night in Sherwood Center.

Senior standout Alex Graves hit .467 with a match-high 17 kills to lead the Missionaries, who finished with records of 3-13 in the Northwest Conference and 6-17 overall.

The Boxers, led by Alexa Block's eight kills and 12 digs, ended its slate with records of 2-14 in the NWC and 7-17.

Carrie Cecil, a 6-foot right-side hitter, added 12 kills to the Whitman cause. First-year middle blocker Courtney Brewer hit .400 with 10 kills, five block assists and two solo blocks.

Katie Richards, a junior setter, finished with 41 Missionary assists, and junior libero Kelsie Butts stayed busy on the back row with a match-high 19 digs.

Pacific also got six kills apiece from Lauren Baum and Kelsey Carter. Brittney Johnson handed out 18 assists for the Boxers while Jade Thompson had 12 digs.

Game one was close throughout but Whitman slipped into the driver's seat when Brewer's back-to-back kills gave the home team a 23-20 lead. The Boxers drew within a point at 24-23 on Lauren Baum's service ace, but the Missionaries put the game away on a Graves kill.

Whitman stayed in control in game two, taking leads of 10-4, 14-7 and 21-13. Cecil's kill on the 25th point gave the Missionaries a 2-0 lead in games.

The score shifted through 15 tie scores in game three before Whitman took the lead for good at 20-19 on another Cecil kill. Pacific was on the ropes, trailing 24-19, when Baum's kill triggered a 6-0 run that produced set point for the Boxers at 25-24.

After Cecil slammed another kill to even the match at 25-all, the two sides battled through several more exchanges with neither team gaining the required two-point winning margin.

Graves had three kills to keep Whitman in the match, and Block had two, the last of which forged a 30-30 deadlock. The next point went to the Missionaries when sophomore Katie Miller drilled her only kill of the night. A Pacific attack error then pushed Whitman over the top.

Both Graves and Breanne Robirds, Whitman's only two seniors, were recognized prior to the match in ceremonies.

Graves, a four-year starter and two-time team captain, finished with career numbers that included 947 kills, 1,125 digs and 113 service aces. She reached double digits in both kills and digs in 35 matches over the past two seasons.

Robirds, who transferred to Whitman as a junior after two seasons at Wyoming's Northwest College, made most of her contributions on defense, collecting a total of 259 digs for the Missionaries.

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