Box Score
HTML Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Oct. 19) -- Senior Erin Smith (Selah) had 12 kills in 16 attempts in her return to the lineup, and the Central Washington University volleyball team used an efficient offense and strong front-row defense to defeat visiting Northwest Nazarene University, 26-24, 25-20, 25-18, on Saturday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats finished the first half of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play in fourth place in the conference standings with a 5-4 GNAC record. CWU is 9-8 overall. Northwest Nazarene fell to 10-5 overall and 6-3 in the GNAC.

Smith, a second-team AVCA Division II All-American last season, was the Wildcats' offensive catalyst in Saturday's win. The middle blocker, who did not play in either of last week's matches, had five kills in the first set, three in the second, and four in the third -- all without an error -- en route to tying her season-high in kills.

CWU escaped each of the first two sets with the victory after seeing a total of 20 ties in those two frames. The Wildcats had the first set almost secured with a 24-21 lead, only to see the visiting Crusaders reel off three straight points. However, consecutive kills by sophomore Kaitlin Quirk (Ellensburg) and Smith enabled the hosts to prevail with a 26-24 win.

Ten more ties ensued in the second set, including as late as 20-20, before the Wildcats scored five straight tallies to take a 2-0 match lead. That capped an overall 6-0 run for CWU, and was aided by two service aces from freshman Jordan Deming (Hillsboro, Ore./Century HS) and a pair of attack errors by Northwest Nazarene.

The Wildcats controlled the third set nearly from start to finish, breaking a 5-5 tie with five straight points. An efficient attack, which included four kills each from Smith and Quirk and three more from sophomore Rachel Hanses (Yakima/West Valley HS), sparked the CWU offense. The Wildcats committed just one hitting error in the third set, finishing with a sizzling .417 clip and outblocking Northwest Nazarene by a 4-0 count in the final frame.

CWU finished the match with a .252 hitting percentage, while outscoring the Crusaders by an 11-3 count on the block. NNU had entered play on Saturday ranking second in the conference with 2.46 blocks per set.

Hanses and senior Emmy Dolan (Castle Rock) finished with seven kills each to complement Smith's team-leading total. Quirk added six kills and led all players with seven total blocks. Smith and sophomore setter Catie Fry (Tacoma/Mount Si HS) each chipped in with four blocks, and Fry set the offense for 35 assists.

Elayna Rice and Andrea Terpstra led the Northwest Nazarene attack with 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Libero Taylor Roberts led all players with 15 digs.

CWU will make its annual trek to Alaska next weekend, visiting the Alaska Nanooks in Fairbanks on Thursday (Oct. 24) and conference-leading Alaska Anchorage on Saturday (Oct. 26). The Wildcats' next home match is versus rival Western Washington University on Oct. 31.