ELLENSBURG, Wash (Sept. 25) – In front of a packed house at Nicholson Pavilion the thirteenth ranked Central Washington University women's volleyball team defeated the University of Alaska in straight sets (25-14,25-14,25-14) bumping their current winning streak to three.

The win improves the Wildcats record to 9-2 overall, 3-1 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, as the Nanooks continue to look for their first win of the season dropping to 0-13 overall, and 0-4 in GNAC.

The Wildcats opened up with a 4-0 run in the first set behind consistent chanting from the crowd. Linden Firethorne (Clinton, WA, South Whidbey) tallied six of her 15 kills in the opening set including the final point. The Wildcats benefited from four services aces, two of which came from Lindsey Milner (Edmonds, WA, Meadowdale).

"We came out and set the tone, we transitioned well." Head Coach Mario Andaya said.  "We hit the ball really well all night."

In the second set, the Wildcats again jumped out in front with a five-point run behind the strength of Catie Fry (Tacoma, WA, Mount Si) and her 13 assists. She would finish with 33 assists on the night.

CWU hit with precision all night proven by their .367 hitting percentage in the second set. Kaitlin Quirk (Ellensburg, WA, Ellensburg) ended the second set in style with a rocket off the hand that eluded two Nanook defenders and gave the crowd what they were looking for. Another win. Quirk ended her night with eight kills while hitting .615.

"I think the crowd was great tonight," Firethrone explained. "It's awesome to have people cheer for us instead of against us."

In the third set the Wildcats went with what was working all night. They opened with a quick 6-0 run aided by a solo block from Fry on the weak side that led to an opposing timeout. Ashtyn Mann (Kirkland, WA, Woodinville) contributed with four kills on four attempts and senior libero Kaely Kight (Spokane, WA, Mead) dug up 15 balls in the win.

The Wildcats out hit the Nanooks .391 to .143 in the win and committed five less errors.

"We never really gave Fairbanks a chance to get a rhythm, and our defense kept them off-balance." Andaya added.

The Wildcats will battle Alaska Anchorage at home as two GNAC favorite collide.

"Anchorage is physical," Andaya said of Saturday's matchup. "They have a couple off potential All-Americans, and they are one of the favorites."

The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Nicolson Pavillion.

"We need to bring the same energy and carry that over to Saturday," Firethorne said. "We need to work on neutralizing their best hitters and attack them all night."