Women's Volleyball | 10/28/2014 11:43:00 AM

ELLESNBURG, Wash. (Oct. 28) – The Central Washington University volleyball team returns to the comforts of Nicholson Pavilion this week as they host Simon Fraser University and Western Washington University this Thursday and Saturday.
 
The Wildcats return home after a split in Alaska, losing to Alaska Anchorage 0-3, and defeating Alaska 3-0.  The Wildcats are eager to play in on their own court in front of their own fans, where they have strived this season.  The Wildcats are 9-1 at home this season and 19-2 in their past 21 games at home.
 
"We are at a critical part in our season so it is nice to be at home," CWU head coach Mario Andaya said.  "We face two very good opponents this week, so we are excited at the chance to play them at home this time around."
 
The Wildcats played SFU back on Oct. 4 and were swept by the Clan.  Simon Fraser features one of the most efficient hitting combinations in the conference in Madeline Hait and Amanda Renkema.  The duo is hitting is hitting .277 and .266 respectively on the season with a combined 259 kills.
 
"Simon Fraser is a very good defensive team and can score a lot of points off defense," Andaya said about SFU. "When they get their middles involved they make things difficult, we are will have to play exceptional defense and look for scoring opportunities with a balanced offense."
 
The Clan will be up against stiff defense as the Wildcat rank second in blocks and third in digs led by Kaitlin Quirk and Kaely Kight.  Quirk leads the Wildcats in blocks with 74, while school record holder Kight has totaled 396 digs this season.
 
"I think our defense has been very physical at the net and we will need to continue to disrupt teams," Andaya added. "We need to focus on neutralizing our opponents biggest threats, and if we can do that, we should put ourselves in a good position to win."
 
Western Washington is the top ranked team in the conference, entering this week ranked 9^th in the country with a 17-4 record, 10-2 in the GNAC.  The Vikings are led offensively by Kayla Erickson who has 268 kills with a .295 hitting percentage.  They also feature the conference leader in digs as Samantha Hutchinson is averaging 7.28 digs per set and 590 total digs on the season.
 
"Western brings balance and can score in lots of different ways," Andaya said.  "They are playing well of late so we need to be firing on all cylinders on Saturday in order to be successful."