ELLENSBURG, Wash (Oct. 16) – The Central Washington University women's volleyball continued their winning ways at home, sweeping Western Oregon University in three sets winning 25-15, 25-20, 25-22 and continuing their current home stand with their third straight victory, winning the last nine sets in a row.
 
The win elevates the Wildcats to 13-5 overall, and 6-4 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference as the Wolves stumble to 2-16 overall, and 0-10 in the GNAC.
 
The Wildcats handled the Wolves in the first set holding WOU to a .160 hitting percentage. Linden Firethorne led the team in the first set with five kills on 11 attempts. Kiah Jones came off the bench and added four kills of her own.
 
"We did a good job of understanding the adjustments we needed to make," Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "Most of those adjustments were on our side. I felt we were playing consistent in some areas and our team identified areas that weren't so good and the team did a good job of picking themselves up and fixing mistakes."
 
The second set was tightly contested. With the score tied at 13-13, Firethrone ripped a cross-court shot that snuck in and hit the back right corner giving the Wildcats a 14-13 lead. Julie Hulbert would follow with a kill of her own. A sharp angled downward spike that hit the middle of the floor to give the Wildcats a 15-13 lead.
 
"Western Oregon plays good defense," Andaya added. "They get you in a big scramble mode, with both teams firing back and forth, rallying on both sides."
 
Jones would play a big part in the second set, leading the team with six kills on 10 attempts hitting .500. Catie Fry continued her excellent play, matching her first set assist total of 13 assists with another 13 in the second set. She would finish the night with 37 assists.
 
"She trusts her hitters, she's becoming a good leader by what she does," Andaya said of the Wildcat setter. "Girls are trusting her out there and she keeps us well balanced. She puts our hitters in a positions to score."
 
The Wolves battled tough in the third set ultimately falling 25-22. It was Jones' night, as she would lead the Wildcats in kills in the third set with five on 12 attempts. She would finish the night with a team-high 15 kills on 28 total attempts. Firethorne added four more kills to give her 12 on the night.
 
The Wildcats outhit the Wolves .275 to .200 on the night totally 49 kills to WOU's 33.
 
The Wildcat will finish their home stand Saturday, Oct. 18 as Saint Martin's University rolls into town. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m.
 
"We want to take each match as it comes," Andaya said. "Obviously we want to carry some of the good things over to tomorrow, and we are looking to work on things we didn't do so well. As a team they feel goos about where they're at."