ELLENSBURG, Wash.- The Central Washington University volleyball team captured a 3-2 home victory over Simon Fraser University, improving the Wildcat's record to 14-9 overall and 9-5 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Clan falls to 17-6 overall and 10-5 in GNAC play.
 
"It turned out to be a good comeback for us," CWU head coach Mario Andaya said. "Offensively, I felt like we were doing some really good things to control every set. We had good leads in the second and third sets that we weren't able to hold on to. We got kind of rattled with Simon Fraser's pressure defensively and it got us off track a little bit. I felt like we were pretty stable throughout the entire match, but we let them catch up in those sets and they pulled out those wins."
 
It was back and forth for the majority of the first set, but kills by Madison Weg and Shelby Mauritson gave the Wildcats a 10-7 advantage.
 
The Clan rallied back to cut Central's lead to 16-14 with kills coming from Tessa May and Emma Jennings.
 
It was all CWU for the remainder of the first set. The Wildcats strung together a 9-3 run to earn a 25-17 set victory behind blocks from Weg and Erin Little and a pair of kills from Mauritson and Jordan Deming.
 
After dropping the first two points of set two the Wildcats rallied back. A 4-0 run gave Central their first lead of the set, with kills by Little and Kiah Jones closing the run. The two sides kept the set close, including multiple ties as the stanza drew down to the final points. With the score deadlocked at 23-23, the Clan rallied to secure the final two points for a 25-23 set win.
 
It was all Central early in the third stanza, storming out to a 6-3 lead behind a pair of kills by Jones.
 
SFU tied the third set 8-8, with a kill from Devon May. The Wildcats responded with a 6-1 run to take a 15-9 lead behind kills by Little, Weg and Mauritson.
 
Simon Fraser claimed points in bunches to level the score 23-23. A tightly contested battle ensued for the remainder of the third set before SFU put together a 2-0 run to close out the stanza 29-27.
 
Both teams battled hard early in the fourth set, each claiming multiple leads. Back-to-back kills by Mauritson and Jones allowed the Wildcats to take a 10-9 advantage. The Wildcats would hold the lead for the remainder of the fourth set, breezing to a 25-20 set victory with a block by Sabrina Wheelhouse and Weg.
 
The Clan stormed out to a 5-1 lead in the final set. The Wildcats responded well, closing the gap to 9-7 with consecutive kills by Mauritson and Weg.
 
Trailing 9-12, the Wildcats went on a 5-2 run to even the score at 14-14.
 
The match victory would fittingly require extra points as the Wildcats went on a 2-0 run to seal an 18-16 win.
 
Deming finished with 16 kills, nine digs and six blocks. Mauritson accompanied her 15 kills with 20 digs. Jones finished with 15 kills, while Weg tallied 14. Gabrielle Aihara led all Wildcats with 31 assists and Niki Cook claimed 29 assists and 19 digs. Wheelhouse recorded 14 total blocks. 
 
"Deming and Mauritson grinded out some tough points for us," Andaya said. "Deming wanted the ball towards the end of the match. She had a good couple weeks of practice and really figured out what she wanted to get out of this season as a senior. She proved it tonight. She came up clutch in set five and I'm glad the setters trusted her."
 
"Shelby does a lot for us," Andaya continued. "She can pass, defend and she has a big arm. When she trusts all of those elements and figures out how to contribute, she really helps our team flow in a lot of ways. I'm happy to see that she had a good night."
 
As a unit, Central finished with 19 blocks, 92 digs, 64 assists, and 69 kills.
 
The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday (Nov. 5) against Western Washington University at home in the Nicholson Pavilion. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
"We past our test to see where we are at," Andaya said. "We have earned the right to be talked about and to be in the regional rankings. Everybody wants those positions so I'm glad that we did our part to be one of the better teams in the region. A lot of these girls have been here before and I am really excited to see how they respond for the rest of the season."
 
-CWU-