Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Ellensburg, Wash (Sept. 11) – The 13^th ranked Central Washington University women's volleyball team erased a 14-22 deficit in the third set to complete its come from behind victory over Dixie State University 3-2 (25-21,20-25,16-25,27-25,15-9) in their first game of the GNAC/PACWEST Crossover in Riverside, Calif.  However, the Wildcats suffered their first loss of the 2014 season in the second game of the day losing 3-0 to Azusa Pacific.
 
Central Washington now stands with a 5-1 overall record.
 
Game 1: CWU 3, DSU 2
After winning the first set 25-21 the Red Storm (2-3) earned victories in both the second and third to take a 2-1 lead in the contest.  The Wildcats fell behind 14-22 in the third set, but fought back rattling off seven straight points due in large part to the play of reserves SABRINA WHEELHOUSE and KIAH JONES.  During the Wildcats 7-0 run the duo accounted for six of the points with Wheelhouse being credited with four kills and Jones two.
 
"I was very impressed at how we stayed composed in this contest," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "We had to get something going and Kiah and Sabrina came in and changed the complexity of the game."
 
The Wildcats eventually tied the fourth set on a kill by JORDAN DEMING and took the lead at 24-23 on a DSU attack error.  Dixie State regained the lead 25-24, but Deming again answered back with a kill to tie the match, and two DSU attack errors later the Wildcats escaped with a 27-25 set win and tied the match 2-2.
 
The Central Washington momentum carried into the fifth and final set, jumping out to a commanding 5-0 lead.  The Wildcats scored the final three points of the contest on kills by LINDEN FIRETHORNE and Wheelhouse, followed by an attack error by DSU.
 
"As great as the comeback in the fourth set was, the first set was probably more important," Andaya added. "We were still figuring things out and finding away to get that first set was very important."
 
Firethorne led the Wildcats with 13 kills followed by Jones and Deming with nine and six respectively.  Defensive specialists Kaley Kight and LAUREN HERSETH both finished with a team-high 22 digs in the contest.
 
As a team, the Wildcats hit just .165 but forced the Red Storm into 41 attack errors, resulting in a .146 hitting percentage.  The CWU defense made a wall at the net combining for a total of 18 blocks on the day led by middle blocker KAITLIN QUIRK who stuffed nine attacks.
 
Game 2: CWU 0, APU 3
In the second contest of the day, the Wildcat held just three leads in the contest as Azusa Pacific (3-3) took home the 3-0 sweep by scores of 25-15, 26-24 and 28-26.
 
Central Washington struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the match, hitting just 0.96 with 23 attack errors.  In contrast APU had a .167 hitting percentage earning 42 kills in 120 total attacks.

"We couldn't put together an effective offense today," Andaya explained. "When you can't score points it makes it hard for your defense."
 
Firethorne again led CWU in kills with 10, but hit just .053 with eight attack errors.  Jones, Quirk and Hulbert were the Wildcats most effective hitters on the day combining to have 18 of the Wildcats 34 kills and a hitting percentage of .267.
 
Azusa Pacific got 11 kills from both Alicia Utke and Mattie Shelford.
 
The Wildcats will next take on Point Loma tomorrow at 1:30 P.M.  Point Loma was receiving votes in this weeks AVCA top 25.

"We got outplayed in some areas today, and we need to focus on getting better, specifically in those areas," Andaya added. "Point Loma is a good team, and if we rebound, we should be in for a really good game tomorrow."