WILDCATS WIN FIRST TWO AT SEAWOLF SPIKE
Norris Totals Nine Aces as Central Defeats SF State, Humboldt State ROHNERT PARK, Calif. (Aug. 28) -- Senior
Erin Norris (Spokane/Mead HS) combined for 21 kills and nine service aces in two matches, helping lead the Central Washington volleyball team to a pair of victories on the opening day of the Seawolf Spike Tournament at Sonoma State University on Friday.
The Wildcats (2-0) went to five sets with San Francisco State in the opening match of the tournament before beating the Gators 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 13-25, 15-10. They then swept former conference foe Humboldt State 25-21, 25-17, 26-24 to complete the opening-day sweep.
In the opener, Central dropped the first set in a nail-biter before winning back-to-back sets for a 2-1 lead. After SF State nearly doubled the Wildcats in the fourth set to force the decisive fifth, Central scored the first four points of the first-to-15 frame and did not trail the rest of the way. CWU scored seven of the final nine points in the match, taking advantage of four Gator hitting errors and capping the win with consecutive kills from sophomore
Meg Ryan (Spokane/Mead HS) and
Kady Try (Brentwood, Calif./Mead HS).
Norris (16 kills) and Try (12 kills) keyed the Wildcat attack offensively, combining for more than half (28) of their team's 54 kills in the match. Norris also fired four service aces, while Try posted Central's first double-double of the season, collecting 14 digs. She, junior
Brandie Vea (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kalani HS), and senior
Meggie Graf (Selah) all reached double figures in digs, with Vea adding a team-high 19 and Graf finishing with 12. Sophomore setter
Carlee Marble (La Conner) had 47 assists and four assisted blocks, while junior middle blocker
Kristel Baeckel (Gresham, Ore./Sam Barlow HS) had nine kills and five total blocks in her Wildcat debut.
San Francisco State (0-1) had three players in double figures for kills, led by 11 from Lauren Walsh. The Gators, who had a 92-78 advantage in digs, had four players with 10 or more digs including a match-high 40 digs from libero Mackenzie Pike.
In the day's second match, Central hit just .087 as a team but fired 11 service aces with just two errors in defeating their former Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival, Humboldt State, in three sets.
Norris, the school's all-time leader with 150 career service aces, had five more aces against the Lumberjacks including two straight to close out the match as Central rallied from a 24-22 set point deficit to win the third frame 26-24. The final set featured 13 ties and seven lead changes before the Wildcats emerged with the sweep.
Offensively, Ryan had a career-high nine kills to lead a balanced attack. Try had seven kills and 12 digs, while Baeckel had six kills and a team-best three assisted blocks while hitting .364 for the match. Vea had 20 digs to lead the Wildcats defensively, marking the 17th time in her career that she had at least 20 digs in a match.
Thirteen of Central's 20 hitting errors in the match resulted from Humboldt State blocks. Allison Drobish had six assisted blocks for the Lumberjacks, while Danielle Wells had five total blocks to go with seven kills and nine digs. Oceana Matsubu had a team-high nine kills and finished with 11 digs in a losing effort for HSU.
The Wildcats have two more matches at the tournament on Saturday, facing Cal State Stanislaus at 11:30 a.m. and tournament host Sonoma State at 7 p.m.
NOTES: Norris moved from 17th to 14th on the school's career kills list with her 16-kill effort against the Gators. She now has 625 career kills ... Vea extended her streak of consecutive matches with double-digit totals in digs to 17 matches with totals of 19 and 20 on Friday. With 849 career digs, she also moved up two places on the all-time dig charts, climbing from 12th to 10th.
BOX SCORE: Central Washington def. San Francisco State 23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 13-25, 15-10 Central Washington def. Humboldt State 25-21, 25-17, 26-24
