ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Sept. 24) – The Central Washington volleyball team lost its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference match of the season after starting 2-0.  The Wildcats fell to No. 15 Western Washington, 3-2, with set scores of 19-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-17, 14-16.  Central Washington is now 6-4 overall and 2-1 in GNAC play.  The Vikings improve to 9-2, 3-0 in GNAC matches.
 
The first grudge match of the season between Central Washington and Western Washington was a see saw battle from start to finish. 
 
The Vikings opened with two points and the Wildcats answered with two of their own.  Central Washington cut the score to 6-4 on a kill by Linden Firethorne, before the Vikings picked up a 3-0 run to extend their lead.
 
The Wildcats then put up 5-0 run started by a kill from Sabrina Wheelhouse.  Kiah Jones and Kaitlin Quirk each picked up a kill in the run, while the Vikings had two attack errors, to even the score at 9-9.
 
Western Washington then outscored the Wildcats 7-2 in the next nine points, to take a 16-11 advantage.  A kill from Firethorne and an attack error by Abby Phelps brought the Wildcats two points closer.  The two sides exchanged 3-0 runs to take the first set to 19-16.  The Vikings then picked up three straight points to draw to 22-16.
 
With the set at 23-17, the Wildcats picked up two points on a kill from Wheelhouse and a double contact by Kristina Tribley.  The Vikings responded with two points of their own to end the first set (25-17) and a 1-0 advantage in the match.
 
Trailing 5-3 in the second set, Central Washington went on a 4-0 run that was started by a kill from Jones to take a 7-5 lead. 
 
Later in the set, the Wildcats went on a 5-0 run that contained a pair of kills from Wheelhouse.  A pair of 3-0 Viking runs cut the Wildcats' lead to 20-18.  Central Washington took three of the next five points to take the second set, 25-21.
 
Central Washington opened the third set with a 3-0 run, before Western went on a 5-0 streak to gain a 5-3 lead.  The two squads battled back and forth before Western took a 4-0 run to bring the set to 22-14.  Central Washington held tight at set point to extend the set, but Joellee Buckner was able to pick up a kill to end the set. 
 
The Wildcats dominated set four.  After a tight 9-8 start, the Wildcats dished out a 5-0 run to go up 13-8.  Central grabbed a 3-0 run to extend the lead to 17-10.  In the final nine points of the fourth set, the Wildcats outscored Western 6-3.  Firethorne recorded five kills in the set, while Quirk added three.
 
Fry and Quirk opened set five with a block to give the Wildcats the first point.  The Vikings tallied the next two points with kills from Jennica McPherson and Kayleigh Harper.  Quirk notched a kill of her own before Harper missed the floor to give the Wildcats a 3-2 advantage.  The teams exchanged points until the score evened at 7-7.  Harper picked up a kill to give the Vikings their second lead of the set as the squads changed sides of the court.  Central Washington retook the lead with two points of their own on a double contact by Brette Boesel and a kill from Firethorne. 
 
The Vikings responded with a 3-0 run that started with back-to-back kills from Phelps and then a block by J. Buckner and Harper.  Two points later, the Wildcats nabbed three straight points with a pair of blocks and a Western attack error.  Wheelhouse and Madison Weg combined for the first block, before Wheelhouse and Firethorne connected on the second.
 
Western took four of the final five points to take the set, 16-14, and the match.
 
"Western was steady in the fifth set," Wildcat's Head Coach Mario Andaya said afterward.  "We knew they were going to extend rallies.  Their defense is always sound and efficient.  We need to do a better job to stay efficient on defense.  We hit a little better in efficiency, but they took advantage of their opportunities more." 
 
Fry finished with 49 assists, bringing her season total to 402 on the season.  Firethorne picked up 17 kills.  Wheelhouse notched 11 kills on 18 attempts to hit .500 on the day.  Quirk also tallied 11 kills.
 
"I liked how resilient we were," Andaya said.  "I liked how we were really trying to find ways each set to find who we were.  We lost our way a few times in sets one and three, but I was looking forward to see who we were going to be in set five.  It was a very good set, but we didn't create enough scoring chances.  Four kills in set five doesn't cut it.  We need to come through in those moments. "
 
The Wildcats will be back in action on Saturday (Sept. 26) as they face GNAC opponent Simon Fraser.  First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.