Sports & Outdoors

Support does not wane after loss

On Wednesday, Oct. 19 and Friday Oct. 21, Puget Sound fans filled Memorial Fieldhouse to support the Puget Sound volleyball team during their last week of home games. Wednesday night the volleyball team faced off against cross-town rivals Pacific Lutheran, and on Friday for senior night they played against Pacific University. The fan support for the team was immense, even when the Loggers lost to PLU 3-1. Friday night the Loggers came back from their loss against PLU and won the game against Pacific 3-0.

The Loggers had a slow start against PLU, and lost the first match 25-15. They came out strong in the second match and won 20-25. With the game tied as the third match started the Loggers and the Lutes kept the game extremely close until the score was 16-16 in the third match. The Lutes took over the game at that point and won the match 25-17. The Loggers could not keep up with the Lutes in the final match and lost 25-13 when the Lutes pulled away early within the match. Sophomore Jackie Harvey (Santa Barbara, Calif.) had 14 kills and 16 digs for the Loggers, while senior Brynn Blickenstaff (Eagle, Idaho) had 12 kills for the Loggers. Seniors Stephanie O’Connor (Ontario, Ore.) and Juliette Witous (Sonoma, Calif.) both had 17 digs for the Loggers.

On Friday, the seniors on the volleyball team played for their final time in Memorial Fieldhouse, and led the team to a win against Pacific. From the start of the game it was clear that Pacific would not be able to keep up with the Loggers, especially when the Loggers pulled away in the first match 11-3 and then won the match 25-13. The second match was similar to the first with the Loggers beating Pacific 25-16 by taking an early lead within the match. In the final match, Pacific took the first lead that they had throughout the entire game.  However, it was not enough to avoid the Loggers from taking back the match and winning 25-20 sweeping the game 3-0.

This game was a big day for the seniors, and they played in perfect form Friday night. Senior Erike Greene (Sandy, Utah) had 29 assists, nine digs and five service aces.  Blickenstaff had nine kills, Witous had the match high of 10 digs, and O’Connor added in eight digs to help the Loggers win the game.  Senior Jaime Ecklund (Tacoma, Wash.) had seven kills, and senior Bre Boyce (Kent, Wash.) had three blocks.

“Senior night could not have been better. We came together and executed our game plan by really attacking their weaknesses and it made the match fun and exciting. It was great to have all of the senior families and friends from out of town here for our last home game. We would like to thank everyone for coming out to support us this season,” Greene said.

The Loggers will play Whitworth on Friday and Whitman on Saturday at Stadium High School in Tacoma.