Box Score

BELMONT, Calif. (Sept. 7) -- The outside hitting duo of junior JORDAN OFFUTT (Leavenworth/Cascade HS) and senior MEG RYAN (Spokane/Mead HS) continued to wreak havoc on opponents, as they combined for 32 kills, and sophomore ERIN SMITH (Selah) added 11 kills and six blocks as the Central Washington University volleyball team earned a 25-18, 25-23, 21-25, 25-21 victory over Notre Dame de Namur University on Wednesday evening.

CWU, which is nearing the end of a season-opening nine-match road trip, improved to 5-2 on the season as they concluded the northern California segment of the trip. The Wildcats will have Thursday off before opening Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on Friday (Sept. 9) at Simon Fraser and facing Western Washington on Saturday (Sept. 10). NDNU fell to 0-6 on the year.

"Overall, I am happy with our road trip so far," CWU head coach Mario Andaya explained. "We have to learn to win on the road in the GNAC, so I'm hoping this (playing seven road contests in as many days) will pay long-term dividends for us."

Two of Central Washington's five wins on the road trip have come at the expense of the Argonauts, having defeated Notre Dame de Namur last Saturday in five sets at the HSU Tournament in Arcata, Calif. Wednesday's victory was a bit easier -- and quicker -- disposing of the Argos in just four sets, although three of those frames were decided by four points or fewer.

"Meg and Jordan carried the point load in the first two sets," Andaya said, "but I knew that we had to come out more balanced in sets three and four. We gave up some runs in the third that ended up costing us, but we settled back down in the fourth and played better defense."

Ryan and Offutt, who have been the Wildcats' early season offensive leaders on a nightly basis, combined for 23 kills (Offutt 12 and Ryan 11) in the first two sets as CWU won 25-18 and 25-23. The Wildcats did not trail in either of those sets, although they were forced into a tie score six times by the Argonauts in the second before Offutt sealed the victory with her 12th kill.

The third set saw five ties and four lead changes, and Central Washington led by four at 18-14 before Notre Dame de Namur reeled off six straight points to lead 20-18. The Wildcats tied the score again at 20-20, but the Argonauts scored five of the next six points to extend the match to a fourth set.

In the final frame, a balanced offensive attack combined for 11 kills, and the Wildcats' front row defense accumulated four total blocks in forcing NDNU into 11 hitting errors as CWU led from start-to-finish. Offutt and Smith each had three kills, and eight different Wildcats had at least one dig -- but none had more than two -- in the set.

For the match, Offutt and freshman CHELTZIE WILLIAMS (Twin Falls, Idaho) had sensational hitting percentages of .314 and .353, respectively, as CWU finished at .210. Senior setter CARLEE MARBLE (La Conner) had 49 assists, while sophomore libero CHELSIE VEA (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kalani HS) totaled three service aces and a team-high 13 digs. Offutt joined Smith as a top blocking presence for the Wildcats, adding five assisted blocks.

Notre Dame de Namur was led offensively by Christina Villamayor with 16 kills, while Paulina Akiona led all players with 15 digs. Jennifer Jasper and Tatiana Wesley added six blocks apiece for the Argonauts.