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ELLENSBURG (Nov. 21) -- Sophomore LINDEN FIRETHORNE (Clinton/South Whidbey HS) led all players with 14 kills, and the Central Washington University volleyball team hit at a steady offensive clip en route to a 25-10, 28-26, 25-21 win over visiting Saint Martin's University on Thursday night at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats, ranked ninth in this week's NCAA Division II West Region poll, improved to 14-11 overall and 10-7 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Saint Martin's fell to 7-22 overall and 3-14 in the GNAC.

Firethorne, who was the only player on either team to reach double figures in kills, had seven of her kills in the nail-biting second set and then added four more in the third set. She hit at a .262 percentage for the match, accumulating twice as many attempts as her next closest teammate in that department, senior EMMY DOLAN (Castle Rock). Dolan had eight kills in 21 attempts, including back-to-back kills to finish off the second set when CWU overcame a 26-25 set point.

Aided by a 9-0 scoring run to end the first set, CWU cruised past the Saints in the opening frame. Sophomore KAITLIN QUIRK (Ellensburg) served the final eight of those points, and the Wildcats took advantage of a poor offensive start by Saint Martin's in which the visitors committed 10 hitting errors in the set.

In the second set, neither team seemingly wanted to take the victory. CWU had three set points after taking a 24-21 lead, but Saint Martin's rallied to tie the score. The Wildcats then had set point again at 25-24, only to watch the Saints tie it and then take a 26-25 lead to earn their first set point of the match. However, consecutive kills by sophomore RACHEL HANSES (Yakima/West Valley HS) and two by Dolan enabled the Wildcats to take a 2-0 match lead.

Central Washington overcame a rough start to the third set, in which the Wildcats surrendered the first seven points. They trailed 10-4 before mounting a 6-2 run to close to within two, and then tied the score at 14 apiece on a block by Firethorne and senior ERIN SMITH (Selah). Saint Martin's then regained the lead on numerous occasions before a four-point swing by CWU enabled them to turn a 20-18 deficit into a 22-20 lead, and the Wildcats did not trail again in the four-point victory.

The Wildcats had an advantage over Saint Martin's in every statistical category, including a 39-35 edge in kills, a 6-3 edge in service aces, a 63-61 margin in digs, and an overwhelming 10-4 command in blocks. Four CWU players reached double digits in digs, led by junior KAELY KIGHT (Spokane/Mead HS) with 16 digs, while ZOE IIDA (Bothell) and LINDSEY MILNER (Edmonds/Meadowdale HS) added 11 each and LAUREN HERSETH (Olympia) finished with 10. Smith led the blocking attack with five assisted blocks, while Firethorne and Quirk added four each and Dolan had three.

Saint Martin's was led by the nine kills of Brooke Good, while Larissa Hamilton added eight and two players -- Julia Wabinga and Maddie Knecht -- finished with seven kills each. Jessica Riddle led all players with 24 digs.

CWU plays its final regular-season match of 2013 on Saturday night (Nov. 23) against Western Oregon University at 7 p.m. Four Wildcat players will be recognized prior to the match as part of Senior Night festivities.