Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Oct. 13) -- Redshirt freshman Kaitlin Quirk (Ellensburg) had 10 kills, a .643 hitting percentage, and four assisted blocks, helping lead the nationally-ranked Central Washington University volleyball squad to a 25-17, 25-20, 25-19 sweep of visiting Saint Martin's University on Saturday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats, ranked 22nd in the NCAA Division II, won their ninth straight match to improve to 14-4 overall. CWU also completed the first half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule tied atop the league standings with Western Washington University at 8-1. Saint Martin's fell to 4-9 overall and 2-6 in the conference with Saturday's loss.

Quirk, a middle blocker, connected for kills on seven of her first eight attempts through two sets before finishing with her 10 kills in 14 attempts and just one error. Defensively, she was part of four of the Wildcats' six blocks in the match.

CWU led from start to finish in the opening set but then had to overcome a late deficit in the second set. The Wildcats used a 4-0 run to start an 8-2 spurt that Quirk capped with her seventh kill of the match. In the third frame, CWU and SMU were nearly even for most of the first 25 points before the Wildcats began to pull away. Another 4-0 run turned a 12-11 count into a 16-11 lead, and the hosts rolled the rest of the way.

Nine of the 12 CWU players to appear in the match had at least one kill, and senior Marcy Hjellum (Kennewick/Kamiakin HS) led all players with 13 kills. She also had 11 digs and two service aces. Junior Emmy Dolan (Castle Rock) added seven kills, while sophomore Kaely Kight (Spokane/Mead HS) finished with a match-high 17 digs as the Wildcats outdug the Saints by a commanding 49-35 margin.

Saint Martin's was led by Kristyn Ross, who finished with 11 kills and five digs. Teilissa Tua was involved in seven of the Saints' eight blocks.

CWU will begin the second half of GNAC play next week, visiting archrival Western Washington in a match-up of nationally-ranked teams and conference co-leaders on Thursday (Oct. 18) in Bellingham. The Wildcats will have five of their final nine conference matches at home, and will next play inside Nicholson Pavilion on Oct. 25 against Montana State University Billings.