Box Score
HTML Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Oct. 31) -- Three players reached double figures in kills, and the Central Washington University volleyball team nearly matched Western Washington University both offensively and defensively, but the Wildcats fell to the 10th-ranked Vikings in four sets on Thursday night at Nicholson Pavilion. Set scores were 25-23, 25-18, 14-25, 25-16 in favor of WWU.

The loss snapped a five-match win streak for the Wildcats, who fell to 11-9 overall and 7-5 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action. The last CWU loss had been against WWU on Oct. 5 in Bellingham. Western Washington improved to 16-3 overall and 9-2 in the conference.

Outside hitter RACHEL HANSES (Yakima/West Valley HS) led CWU with 12 kills on Thursday, while middle blocker KAITLIN QUIRK (Ellensburg) added 11 and outside hitter LINDEN FIRETHORNE (Clinton/South Whidbey HS) finished with 10.

The Wildcats and Vikings were very closely contested in the opening set, with 17 ties and five lead changes. CWU actually led as late as 23-21 before WWU scored four straight points, the last three of which came on offensive errors by the Wildcats.

The Wildcats led a see-saw battle in the second set, 6-5, before Western Washington scored three straight points and did not trail again. In fact, the Vikings went on a 15-7 run to take a seven-point lead, and CWU would get no closer than a four-point margin on two occasions down the stretch.

CWU owned the third set to keep the match alive. An eight-point scoring run behind the service of junior KAELY KIGHT (Spokane/Mead HS) and keyed by the hitting of Firethorne turned a 12-11 score into a commanding 20-11 lead for the Wildcats. Firethorne totaled six of her 10 kills in the third set alone, while Kight amassed nine digs over that span.

Western Washington sealed the match with a commanding run in the fourth set, breaking a 3-3 tie and scoring seven of the next eight points for a 10-4 lead. CWU got no closer than a five-point deficit the rest of the way.

The two teams were evenly matched throughout, with statistical totals nearly identical in terms of kills, hitting percentage, digs, and blocks. One key difference was at the service line, where CWU committed nine errors without an ace while Western Washington had three aces and just four errors.

Spearheading the Wildcats' defensive efforts on Thursday was Kight with 32 digs, while sophomore setter CATIE FRY (Tacoma/Mount Si HS) finished with 16 digs and 38 assists. Junior LAUREN HERSETH (Olympia) had 15 digs and sophomore ZOE IIDA (Bothell) added 12. Quirk, who hit at a .259 percentage offensively, finished with three blocks for CWU.

Western Washington was led by the 13 kills and four blocks of Kayla Erickson, and 12 kills each from Rachel Roeder and Kelsey Moore. Taylor Dillard had 45 assists and 11 digs, while Samantha Hutchinson led all players with 33 digs for the Vikings.

CWU remains home this Saturday (Nov. 2), taking on Simon Fraser University in a 7 p.m. first serve at Nicholson Pavilion.