Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Sept. 12) -- Senior Kady Try (Brentwood, Calif./Mead HS) had a career-high 27 kills and added 15 digs, but the Central Washington University volleyball team was unable to complete its upset bid of 18th-ranked Western Washington University in a 25-20, 24-26, 26-24, 21-25, 15-10 loss to the Vikings in the 2010 home opener on Sunday afternoon at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats saw their Great Northwest Athletic Conference record evened at 1-1, while falling to 2-4 overall on the season. All four of Central's losses have come against teams ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Top 25. Western Washington, meanwhile, is now 5-1 overall and pulled into a tie for the early GNAC lead with Western Oregon at 2-0 in conference play.

Try, whose previous career-high for kills was a 22-kill performance at Simon Fraser on Wednesday, posted the second-highest single-match kill total in the Wildcats' 13-year NCAA Division II history. She was the go-to hitter on Central's attack, amassing 38 percent (76) of her team's 200 hitting attempts in the five-set match. That attempt total was the third-highest mark since 1998.

The match was a back-and-forth affair throughout, with 42 total ties and 19 lead changes in the five sets. In the first set, the Wildcats managed to score 20 points despite a minus-.042 hitting percentage and just seven kills in the frame, but they benefited from six service errors by Western in the 25-20 Viking win.

Each of the next two sets were decided by 26-24 scores, as Central staved off a 24-23 set-point deficit in the second with three straight counters -- all scored on hitting errors by Western. The Wildcats also rallied late in the third set after trailing 24-22, fending off consecutive set points in that set, before consecutive kills by the Vikings' Emily Jepsen and Bailey Jones gave WWU a 2-1 match lead.

In the fourth set, Central scored the final three points to turn a 22-21 advantage into a 25-21 win as three more miscues by the visiting Vikings forced a decisive fifth set. Try had six kills and seven digs in the fourth.

In the final frame, Central had an early 2-1 lead and was tied as late as 4-4, but Western scored six of the next eight points for a 10-6 lead and the Wildcats would get no closer than a two-point deficit (10-8) the rest of the way.

Offensively, junior Meg Ryan (Spokane/Mead HS) came off the Wildcat bench to add 11 kills and join Try as the only CWU players with 10 or more kills. Ryan also had 19 digs to rank second on the Wildcats in the match. Junior setter Carlee Marble (La Conner) had 48 assists and 15 digs for her first double-double of the season, and a total of five Central players had 10 or more digs in the match. Senior Brandie Vea (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kalani HS) led with 23 digs, followed by Ryan's 19, sophomore Meg Carini (Tacoma/Curtis HS) with 18, and Marble and Try with 15 digs each.

Western Washington had standout performances from seniors Megan Amundson and Allison Gotz, specifically. Amundson had 25 kills and 15 digs, while Gotz led all players with 46 digs. Setter Kari Rice finished with 59 assists and 10 digs.

Central Washington, which played its first Sunday match since 1994, opened a stretch of six home matches in seven starts. The Wildcats will next face Seattle Pacific (8-0, 0-0 GNAC) on Thursday (Sept. 16) at 7 p.m. before traveling to Montana State Billings (0-8, 0-0 GNAC) on Saturday (Sept. 18).