GAME NOTES
ELLENSBURG, Wash (Sept. 17) – The 11th ranked Central Washington University volleyball team has finished its non-conference schedule and now heads in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference play beginning with three road games in five days.
 
"It is important for us to start conference play out on the right foot," Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "The rest of the season is going to be a battle, and we face one of the toughest opponents in our conference to kick things off."
 
The 7-1 Wildcats will first face off with Northwest Nazarene, who also boasts a 7-1 record, this Thursday at 7 P.M. MDT.  Last season the two teams split their two-game series with both teams winning at home.  The Crusaders have been looking forward to this matchup ever since the Wildcats jumped NNU for the eighth and final spot in last seasons NCAA Division II West Regional rankings during the last week of play.  The Crusaders haven't cracked the top 25 yet this season, but are part of a group of 12 teams who are receiving votes.
 
After the seven-hour bus ride to Nampa, ID, the Wildcats will ride back to Washington to play Saint Martin's University (2-8) on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 7 P.M.  Central Washington has dominated SMU over the past 15 years holding a 30-1 record over the Saint's in that time frame including victories in the last 24 games with 21 sweeps.
 
The final game of the road trip will be played on Monday, Sept. 22 at Western Oregon University (2-8) in Monmouth, Ore.  Western Oregon has a 28-22 all-time record against CWU, but the Wildcats are 19-9 in the last 28 matchups.
 
"We have a good group of veterans leading our team this season, and they are playing well," Andaya added. "We have also had some young players step up and make a difference as well. We will need all hands on deck this week with the amount of games we are playing in such a short period of time."
 
The Wildcats will be led by juniors LINDEN FIRETHORNE and CATIE FRY .  Firethorne leads the team with 101, which is sixth best in the conference.  Fry, a 2013 all-American setter, has 283 assists heading into the week, averaging 9.76 assists per set.  She has also been a force at the net totaling 21 blocks, which is third most on the squad.