SEATTLE, Wash. (Oct. 27) – The Central Washington University volleyball team fell to Seattle Pacific University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match, 2-3 (19-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 7-15).  The Wildcats are now 12-9 overall and 8-5 in GNAC play.  The Falcons improve to 9-12 and 5-8 in conference play.

"Tough loss," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said.  "But we just didn't score enough.  We created a lot of chances so we are encouraged about that.  SPU dug the ball and converted better than we did.  We have to keep working on things to see how we can score against good defensive teams.  We passed well tonight so I'm pretty happy about that."
 
Central picked up a 5-1 lead to open set one, but Seattle Pacific closed the gap with five of the next six points.  A see-saw battle ensued with the Wildcats taking slim advantages through much of the first set.  The Falcons briefly claimed a lead at 16-17, but a kill from Shelby Mauritson brought the set back even.
 
Mauritson finished with 12 kills and 13 digs.
 
The Falcons swung the tide of momentum in the first set permanently in their favor with a seven point run, taking set one 25-19.
 
Central again held the lead for the majority of the second set, this time the Wildcats came away with a 25-23 set win.
 
The Falcons were able to level the set multiple times, but the Wildcats responded each time keeping the lead from Seattle Pacific. Timely kills from Mauritson and Madison Weg helped the Wildcats pace the second set and bring the match to 1-1.
 
Central Washington forced Seattle Pacific to take an early timeout in set three, after storming out to an 8-1 advantage.  The Wildcats pushed their lead to six on a kill from Sabrina Wheelhouse at 13-7.
 
The Falcons began clawing their way closer, eventually tying the set at 18-18.  Seattle Pacific claimed seven of the next 10 points for a 25-21 set victory.
 
Set four opened in a see-saw battle with both sides nearly exchanging the first 16 points for 8-8 opening.
 
The Wildcats then proceeded to record the next 10 points for a 16-8 lead.  The Falcons tried to mount a comeback, but the Wildcats held them off and brought the match back even at two sets a side.
 
Consistent with the first four sets, and the first leg of the season series in Ellensburg, the fifth set opened with momentum swinging back and forth between both teams.
 
At 3-3, the Wildcats notched back-to-back points on an SPU service error and a kill from Mauritson.  The Falcons responded by taking the next four points, and a 7-5 lead, forcing Central Washington to use a timeout.  Seattle Pacific took the next point following the timeout and forced the court change.
 
The momentum continued for SPU, as the Falcons extended their lead to 10-5.  Following another CWU timeout, the Falcons inched closer to victory by extending their lead to 12-5 before a kill by Erin Little stopped the run.
 
Little compiled eight blocks and five kills.
 
The Falcons held on for a 15-7 set win, closing the match 3-2.
 
Weg notched 10 kills and seven blocks.  Sabrina Wheelhouse recorded nine kills and seven blocks.  Kiah Jones finished with nine kills and four blocks.  Gabrielle Aihara dished out 27 assists, while Cook handed out 18.  Kyla Morgan finished with 27 digs.

"Maddy and Sab were good offensively and at the net blocking," Andaya added.  They played very well."
 
The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday (Oct. 29) against Saint Martin's University.  First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.