ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Oct. 13) - The Central Washington University volleyball team fell in three straight sets Thursday night to #8 Alaska Anchorage University [19-25, 31-29, 31-29]. The Wildcats are now 10-7 overall and 6-3 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Alaska Anchorage improves to 19-1 and 9-0 in the GNAC.
 
"It is never really the same on paper and film as it is in real life," CWU head coach Mario Andaya said. "We knew they were going to be physical, but they were physical on a different level then we were used to seeing. We had our chances and we were okay with some of the things they did. To unravel at times when we needed to be at our best was the frustrating part. We would have had to have played a pretty clean game to have beaten these guys."
 
The Wildcats played well at the net, totaling 15 blocks, more than doubling Alaska Achorages seven blocks on the night.  However, the Seawolves offense was much more effecitent, hitting .227 on the night with a team total of 63 kills.  The Wildcats hit just .078 and had 30 kills over the three sets.
 
After the Seawolves took four of the first five points in the opening frame, three blocks by Jordan Deming helped the Wildcats secure an 8-3 run to take a 9-.
 
Alaska Anchorage captured the next six points to recapture the lead 13-9 and they carried their lead into the final serve in the opening set. The Wildcats pulled within three at 19-16, thanks to a pair of blocks by Deming and Sabrina Wheelhouse, and a kill by Kiah Jones.
 
The Wildcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead early in the second stanza behind kills from Jones and Wheelhouse. Central extended its lead to 7-1 before the Seawolves battled back to close the gap to 10-7.
 
Central captured the next three points thanks in large part to Erin Little, who recorded a block and kill.
 
Later in the set, Wheelhouse and Jones tallied kills to expand the Wildcat lead to 17-10.
 
A hard fought battle ensued, after Alaska Anchorage closed the margin to 22-21. The set went into extra points after the Seawolves tied the match at 25 apiece.
 
With the entirety of Nicholson Pavilion on their feet, back-and-forth play ensued for the remainder of the second. The Wildcats would eventually succumb to the Seawolves 31-29.
 
The Wildcats claimed a quick 3-1 advantage in the third set behind two attack errors by the Seawolves and a kill by Jones. A service ace by Deming and block by Madison Weg extended Central's lead to 10-5.
 
Alaska Anchorage rallied back to close the gap and level the score at 10-10 before the Wildcats rattled off four-straight points to recapture the lead. The Seawolves would once again rally back to tie the score at 20-20.
 
The third stanza also came down to extra points. CWU kept things close, but was not enough to force a fourth set. The Seawolves would close out the match with a 31-29 set victory.  
 
Jones finished with seven kills, two digs, and two blocks. Deming notched six kills, one service ace, six digs and seven blocks. Wheelhouse totaled six kills and 10 blocks. Gaby Aihara and Nikole Cook led all Wildcats in assists, recording 13 and 11, respectively.
 
The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday (Oct. 15) at Nicholson Pavilion against Alaska Fairbanks.