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MONMOUTH, Ore. (Sept. 19) -- Sophomore Linden Firethorne (Clinton/South Whidbey HS) had a career-high 20 kills, and two players totaled 25 digs apiece, but the 24th-ranked Central Washington University volleyball team suffered its third straight loss with a five-set defeat against host Western Oregon University on Thursday night. Set scores were 17-25, 31-29, 25-27, 25-23, 15-8 in favor of the Wolves.

CWU fell to 4-5 overall and 0-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, while WOU improved to 4-6 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

"We had good chances to control the match but offensively we weren't consistent enough to keep pressure on them," CWU head coach Mario Andaya said. "Our defense did a good enough job to win, so that's positive, but we couldn't score points."

Firethorne led all players in the kill department and was the Wildcats' most efficient attacker with a .250 hitting percentage. CWU finished with just a .161 percentage offensively and committed nearly half (14) of its 34 hitting errors on blocks by Western Oregon.

CWU won the first set rather handily before engaging in a see-saw battle in each of the next two sets. After the Wildcats had match point four times in the second set, WOU scored three straight counters for a 31-29 victory. CWU then overcame a two-point deficit late in the third set by scoring five of the final six points and took a 2-1 match lead into the fourth.

The Wildcats led early in the fourth, but a 5-0 run midway through gave Western Oregon a three-point lead at 18-15. CWU closed to within one on four occasions late in the frame, but a kill by Becky Blees forced the decisive fifth set.

In the fifth, Western Oregon scored the first four points and eventually stormed out to a 10-1 lead in the first-to-15 set and CWU was unable to come back.

"WOU did a good job responding when we got tentative," Andaya explained. "The fifth set started out rough, and we didn't stabilize it until (the score) was out of hand."

CWU played without two seniors -- outside hitter Jordan Offutt (Leavenworth/Cascade HS) and middle blocker Erin Smith (Selah) -- with previous all-conference honors to their credit. In their absence, Firethorne and junior Julie Hulbert (La Conner) saw extensive time, including Hulbert, who made her first start of the season and had five kills.

Sophomore Rachel Hanses (Yakima/West Valley HS) and senior Emmy Dolan (Castle Rock) also reached double figures in kills with 16 and 12, respectively. Sophomore setter Catie Fry (Tacoma/Mount Si HS) finished with 52 assists and 10 digs.

Defensively, the Wildcats held a commanding 94-82 advantage in digs. Sophomore Zoe Iida (Bothell) established a career-high with 25 digs, tying junior Kaely Kight (Spokane/Mead HS) for team-leading honors in that category. Hanses (12), Fry (10), and junior Lauren Herseth (Olympia; 10) also had double-digit dig totals.

Western Oregon was led by the 18 kills of Christie Colasurdo, who also finished with 12 digs. Hannah Deede had 16 kills and 12 blocks for the Wolves, who totaled 14 team blocks, aided also by a 10-kill, 10-block effort from Blees.

CWU plays the last of 10 straight matches away from home this Saturday (Sept. 21) at Saint Martin's University in Lacey. The Wildcats then make their Nicholson Pavilion debut next Thursday (Sept. 26) against the University of Alaska Anchorage at 7 p.m.