Danielson, Pirates down Linfield
On a night when Whitworth’s Natalie Danielson came within three kills of setting a school record for a four-game match and Rebekah Hornor recorded her third triple-double of the season, Pirates coach Steve Rupe wanted to talk about Holly Coleman and Cassie Moore.
And why not?
Without the defensive efforts of Coleman, a senior libero, and Moore, a sophomore outside hitter, Danielson doesn’t get her 25 kills, Hornor’s numbers drop dramatically and host Whitworth probably doesn’t advance past the semifinals of the West Regional of the NCAA Division III volleyball tournament.
But with them, the second-seeded Bucs were able to hold off Northwest Conference rival Linfield 3-1 Friday night in front of a Whitworth Fieldhouse crowd of 725 and earn a berth in tonight’s regional championship against top-seeded La Verne (Calif.), which swept Cal State East Bay 3-0 in Friday’s other semifinal.
The title match starts at 7, with the winner advancing to next weekend’s eight-team national finals in Salem, Va. The fans who show up to watch can only hope to witness a match as thrilling and as well-played as the third showdown of the season between Whitworth and Linfield.
“It was a little stressful,” Whitworth coach Steve Rupe admitted after watching his NWC regular-season champions and 15th-ranked Pirates edge the 17th-ranked Wildcats 30-25, 27-30, 30-27, 30-26. “But you know what? Those are the kinds of matches that are fun to be in.”
After splitting their two regular-season showdowns, with both teams winning at home, the Bucs (22-3) and Cats (21-5) got after each other in a big way on this night, battling through four tightly contested games in which neither team was able assert any semblance of dominance.
But in the end, the big hitting of Danielson, a senior middle blocker who was named a first-team Division III All-American earlier in the day, the all-around play of Hornor and the stellar defensive work of Coleman and Moore prevailed.
Danielson hit .321 in pounding down the 25 kills, while Hornor, the Pirates’ senior setter, finished with 49 assists, 11 kills and 15 digs. Coleman and Moore combined for 19 digs against Linfield’s powerful front line.
“Natalie and Rebekah were great again,” Rupe said. “But Holly and Cassie made some unbelievable defensive touches that allowed Natalie to get her kills. It was our defense that won the match for us.”
The Pirates also did a splendid job of dealing with the power of Linfield’s All-American outside hitter Lindsay Harksen, limiting the 5-11 senior to 14 kills and an uncharacteristic hitting percentage of .179.
“Our goal was to make somebody else beat us,” Rupe explained.
The Wildcats’ Katelyn Baker, who hit .268 with 15 kills, did her best to do just that.
“She really stepped up to the challenge,” Rupe said of Baker, a 5-8 sophomore middle blocker. “But we found a way. It’s nice not to lose to a conference opponent and let them knock you out of the tournament.”
In tonight’s title match, Whitworth faces a La Verne team (22-8) that buried its first two West Regional opponents. The Leopards swept Chapman in Thursday’s opening round, and then disposed of Cal State East Bay 30-28, 30-18, 30-25 behind the power of Courtney Rollins, Brianna Gonzales and Mandy Sedia, who combined for 39 kills.
“They’re a very good team” Rupe said of the Leopards, the regular-season champions of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. “But I think we match up pretty well. I can see it being another match like this one tonight.
“We’ll just have to see if were up for the challenge again.”