ELLENSBURG, Wash.- The Central Washington University volleyball team lost its fourth Great Northwest Athletic Conference match of the season Tuesday night in Nicholson Pavilion. The Wildcats fell to Northwest Nazarene University, 0-3, with set scores of 23-25, 19-25, and 22-25. Central Washington is now 11-8 overall and 7-4 in GNAC play. The Crusaders improve to 13-5, 6-5 in GNAC matches.
 
"We created more chances than we have been of late," CWU head coach Mario Andaya said. "I thought we were tough in system, but out of system we didn't play well. Nazarene took advantage of it. We kept hitting into their defense and they created a very fast situation for us defensively, which was hard to stop."
 
After NNU kicked off the first stanza on a 8-2 run, head coach Mario Andaya was forced to burn one of his timeouts in order to calm the Wildcat nerves and regroup. Central responded well, capturing the next two points to reduce the Crusader's lead to 8-4.
 
The Wildcats and Crusaders gained points in bunches for the remainder of the first set, with both teams recording several 3-0 runs. Back-to-back kills by Bridgette Webb and Madison Weg leveled the score at 22-22. Northwest Nazarene closed out the first stanza with a pair of kills to earn the 23-25 set victory.
 
Central and NNU battled in the early goings of the second set, exchanging points and slim advantages. The Crusaders began to pull away following a kill by Nikki Cook at 14-15 in favor of the Crusaders. A six-point run put Northwest Nazarene up 21-14. NNU would hold on for a 19-25 set victory and a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
CWU earned their first lead of the evening early in the third, 3-1, behind kills from Erin Little and Kiah Jones. NNU battled back with a 4-0 run to claim a 5-3 advantage. The Wildcats kept things close for the remainder of the match, but the Crusaders sealed the victory with a pair of kills.
 
Jones finished with nine kills, while Weg recorded eight.  Gabrielle Aihara posted 19 assists and eight digs. Kyla Morgan added 21 digs and Sabrina Wheelhouse recorded six blocks.
 
As a team, CWU recorded 41 kills, 39 assists, 60 digs, ten blocks and three service aces.
 
"We didn't produce enough offense," Andaya said. "Our block is only going to get us so far. We have to create more opportunities on offense. When we were in system we were good, but out of system we were giving Nazarene to many free balls and scoring opportunities."
 
Central will hit the road to face Montana State Billings this Thursday (Oct. 20). First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. PST.