ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Oct. 20) – The Central Washington University volleyball team went 2-0 last week with a pair of sweeps over Seattle Pacific University and Saint Martin's University.
 
Against SPU, the Wildcats posted a .461 hitting efficiency.
 
"SPU was a good match for us," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said.  "We got our offensive rhythm going.  It wasn't just off of serve receive, we did some good work on our defense.  Our transitional work was good.  We ended some of the extended rallies with a kill, not an opponent error.  We need to continue to thrive off of that and make sure we are controlling that better."
 
Linden Firethorne recorded 12 kills and a hitting efficiency of .474.  Kiah Jones hit .421.  Madison Weg had seven kills, on 10 attempts, for a hitting efficiency of .700.
 
With the pair of wins, Central is now 12-5 on the season, with an 8-2 mark in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
The Wildcats head north of the border on Thursday to take on Simon Fraser.  The last time the two sides met, the Wildcats took a 3-2 victory in Ellensburg. 
 
Kaitlin Quirk and Jones recorded a team high 13 kills each.  Quirk was got in on six blocks, while Jones was involved in four blocks. 
 
"Simon Fraser is a really good team," Andaya noted. "They have good energy and keep the ball alive." 
 
The Clan sit at 9-9 on the season and have a 5-5 record in GNAC play.  Tessa May leads the offense with 172 kills and .311 hitting efficiency.  May has tallied 11 solo blocks and 75 block assists.
 
Alison McKay leads SFU with 405 digs.  The Clan average 17.58 digs per set. 
 
"They extend rallies and force you into some bad situations," Andaya said.  "So we need to make sure we are controlled on our side and staying as aggressive as we have been the past few weeks.   We know it is going to be a battle."
 
Central will travel to Bellingham to face GNAC rival Western Washington. 
 
"Western is the hottest team right now in the west," Andaya added.  "With that being said I think we did some good things that we want to carry over from last time we played them and there are also some things that we didn't do as well that we are sharper on now."
 
When the two teams faced off in Ellensburg the Vikings pulled out a 3-2 victory. 
 
Firethorne recorded 17 kills, while Sabrina Wheelhouse and Quirk added 11.  Rachel Roeder answered the Wildcats with 17 kills on her own. The rivalry match was a see saw battle from the start.  The two sides alternated sets before the Vikings nabbed a 16-14 victory in the final set.
 
"We want to be in that situation again where we can win the match," Andaya said.  "We had a shot last time and that's all we can ask for this time."
 
Firethorne currently leads the Wildcats with 234 kills.  Wheelhouse has posted a hitting percentage of .400.
 
Catie Fry has dished out 673 assists, over 64 sets, for an average of 10.52 assists per set. 
 
Lindsey Milner has picked up 249 digs for CWU.
 
Quirk has posted five solo blocks and 81 block assists.  Wheelhouse has added 13 solo blocks and 64 block assists.  She is fourth in the NCAA Division II in blocks per set at 1.43.  Central Washington leads the NCAA Division II at 2.90 blocks per set.
 
The Wildcats received 22 votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the second straight week, but could not find their way into the top 25. 
 
Both Thursday's match against SFU and Saturday's match against WWU will start at 7 p.m.  For live stats and streaming click, here.