Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Oct. 11) -- The tandem of senior Marcy Hjellum (Kennewick/Kamiakin HS) and junior Emmy Dolan (Castle Rock) combined for 26 kills and a .364 hitting percentage, and the nationally-ranked Central Washington University volleyball team fired 10 service aces in its 25-21, 25-18, 25-15 sweep of visiting Western Oregon University on Thursday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats, ranked 22nd nationally in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II poll this week, won their eighth straight match overall to improve to 13-4 on the season. CWU also pulled into a first-place tie with idle Western Washington University in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with its 7-1 league mark. WOU fell to 11-5 overall and 4-3 in the conference.

Hjellum, an outside hitter, finished with a match-high 16 kills while also hitting .314. She had three of the Wildcats' 10 aces in the match while not committing a service error.

Dolan, a right-side hitter, was the Wildcats' most efficient attacker on the night with her 10 kills in 20 attempts with just one error (.450).

"Emmy came up big again," CWU head coach Mario Andaya said. "When she is on, our team plays at a very high level."

CWU was in control of the match virtually from start to finish. The Wildcats and Wolves were tied twice in the opening set -- at 1-1 and 2-2 -- before the Wildcats reeled off four straight points and did not trail again. They did not trail in the second set, and they then used a 6-0 run early in the third set to overcome a 2-0 deficit and cruise to the sweep.

"This was a good win against a solid team," Andaya explained. "Our defense and service were big factors in controlling the match tonight. WOU is a quality opponent, so to be able to get a win in the way that we did tonight was a huge positive to see that our team is heading in the right direction."

In addition to Hjellum's efficiency at the service line, redshirt freshman setter Catie Fry (Tacoma/Mount Si HS) finished with four aces and was one of the team's defensive leaders with 11 digs and two assisted blocks. Sophomore libero Kaely Kight (Spokane/Mead HS), who led all players with 15 digs, added two service aces.

CWU dominated every statistical category except in blocking, where the Wolves, who lead the GNAC in blocking average, finished with nine blocks to the Wildcats' four.

Danielle Reese had nine kills to lead WOU offensively, while Becky Blees added five kills and four assisted blocks.

Central Washington wraps up the first round of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this Saturday (Oct. 13), hosting Saint Martin's University at 7 p.m.