ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Sept. 12) – The Central Washington University volleyball closed out play in the GNAC-PacWest Crossover with their fourth victory of the tournament, to sweep its matches.  The Wildcats defeated BYU-Hawaii 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-13).
 
"Going into this tournament we knew how critical it was to have a strong effort," Head Coach Mario Andaya said.  "To come out of it 4-0 was an outstanding effort.  We knew the GNAC had to do well and it is nice to know we did our part.  As the tournament went on we got better in a lot of areas we have been training hard in.  I feel we are creating a good identity going into conference."
 
The first set was seesawed back and forth, before the Wildcats took a 6-0 run to go up 13-6.  The Seasiders would recover ground later in the set with a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 21-19. 
 
Central Washington responded with a 3-0 run to put the Wildcats up 24-19, which started with a kill from Madison Weg.  The Seasiders responded with a 3-0 run of their own; before Rachel Hanses closed the set with her first kill.
 
The second set started tight with both teams trading points before the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run behind the service of Kaitlin Quirk.  The run started with a kill by Linden Firethorne, she added two more kills to her total during the run.  Sabrina Wheelhouse picked up a kill in the run as well.
 
Quirk finished the tournament with five service aces, one solo block, twenty block assists, and a hitting percentage of .310.  She was named to the GNAC-PacWest Crossover All-Tournament Team.
 
"Quirk was effective and found a volume of ways to contribute," Andaya said of his senior.  "She was effective at the net, both offensively and defensively.  She scored a great deal of points at critical junctions.  Her serving put pressure on opponents and we were able to score a lot of points off her serve."
 
The Wildcats busted out to a 6-0 lead in the third set and did not look back.  During the set, Quirk picked up three straight kills, Weg recorded back-to-back kills, and Firethorne notched three kills. The Wildcats went on runs of 6-0, 5-0, and two runs of 5-1 to dominate the third set 25-13.
 
Firethorne finished with 15 kills, on 25 attempts, to post a hitting percentage of .600.  For the tournament, she posted 57 kills, on 143 attempts, and a hitting percentage of .287.  Firethorne joined Quirk on the GNAC-PacWest Crossover All-Tournament Team.

"I thought our outsides, Firethorne and Jones, grinded out a great tournament for us," Andaya said afterward.  "They got us out of some tough situations and put tension on our opponents."
 
Fry finished with 31 assists and seven block assists in the match.  She dished out 162 assists in the tournament at a rate of 10.8 per set.

"Fry did her thing by keeping opponents off balance, but also making the tough plays look easy," Andaya said of his setter.  "She was a good leader for us this weekend when we knew a lot was on the line."
 
Shelby Mauritson saw the first action of her career as a Wildcat this weekend and finished the tournament with 18 digs to help solidify Central Washington's back row.
 
"I thought Mauritson stepping into her first collegiate outing was outstanding," Andaya added in regards to the freshman.  "She had great composure for her first time out and she helped our team's hitting efficiency with her ball control."
 
The Wildcats will be back in action on Monday, Sept. 14, for their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference match against Northwest Nazarene University at 7 p.m.