BILLINGS, Mont. (Sept. 17) – The Central Washington University volleyball team collected its second Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory over Montana State University Billings, 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16).  The Wildcats improve to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in GNAC play, while MSUB falls to 1-8 and 0-1 in GNAC play.

The first set stayed close with each team compiling a few small runs, until the Wildcats took an 18-16 lead on a kill by Linden Firethorne.  Kiah Jones notched an ace on the next serve, before Firethorne registered another kill, to give the Wildcats a 20-17 lead. 

"With Linden [Firethorne] it is nice to know that when an opponent keys in on her, she can still come through," Head Coach Mario Andaya said.  "Hitting .316 as an outside hitter is phenomenal."

Firethorne led the Wildcats with 15 kills, on 38 attempts, and recorded a hitting percentage of .316.

Following a Yellowjacket point, Kaitlin Quirk and Firethorne paired up for a block to regain the serve and pull ahead 21-17.  Central Washington closed out the set with kills from Sabrina Wheelhouse and Catie Fry, 25-18.  The Wildcats outscored the Yellowjackets 8-1 in the final nine points of the first set.

The Wildcats jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the second set, before a pair of kills from Firethorne and a kill from Wheelhouse made it 15-7.  Leading 18-12, CWU went on a 4-0 run with a block from Quirk and Madison Weg, kills from Erin Little and Weg, and a MSUB attack error, to hold a 22-12 lead over the Yellowjackets. 

Montana State Billings would not go quietly in the second set. Miranda McConnell, Taylor Albertson, and Taylor Sherman all recorded a kill during the Yellowjackets 6-0 run to cut the Wildcats lead to 22-18. Central Washington held their ground and produced a 3-0 run, with a kill from Little and two from Kiah Jones, to win the second set 25-18.

Central Washington started strong in the third set.  The Wildcats took a 6-4 advantage before going on a 5-0 run that started with a block from Weg, to take an 11-4 lead.  The two sides alternated points before CWU went on a quick 3-0 push that opened with a kill from Wheelhouse to bring the Wildcats within six points of a victory, 19-12.  Central Washington closed the match with a pair of kills from Wheelhouse and Ashtyn Mann.

"I thought we were really efficient in a lot of different ways offensively," Andaya said afterward.  "When we are able to pass well we can do a lot of different things.  We put a lot of different scoring opportunities together and were able to come through for some critical points."

Weg finished with seven kills, while posting a hitting efficiency of .313.  Jones notched a .308 efficiency and recorded five kills.  Quirk finished with five kills, on 11 attempts, and a .364 efficiency.  Fry dished out 35 assists and added 10 digs.  Lindsey Milner recorded 14 digs and an ace.

"Lindsey [Milner] played really well," Andaya said of his libero.  "They were serving us tough and trying to get us out of system, she kept us really efficient. She came through and made some big plays for us."

The Wildcats will be back in action on Sept. 24 for a home match against GNAC rival Western Washington University.  The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.