MONMOUTH, Ore. (Sept. 17) – The Central Washington University volleyball team fell in five sets to Western Oregon University (19-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 13-15.  The Wildcats are now 5-5 overall and 1-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.  Western Oregon improves to 4-5 overall and 1-1 in the GNAC.
 
"We did a pretty nice job of staying in this match and even extending it, so we're pretty encouraged about that," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said afterward.  "Too many bad passing moments along with Western Oregon's converting more on defense resulted in a tough loss.  We had chances to extend our lead in the fifth set but didn't convert."
 
The Wildcats and Wolves found themselves battling through a tight first set.  Western Oregon began to pull away following a kill by Shelby Mauritson at 14-15 in favor of the Wolves.  A four-point run put Western Oregon up 19-14.  The Wolves gained points in bunches to finish the set at 25-19.
 
Western Oregon opened the second set on a 6-0 run. A timeout by Central Washington at 5-0 quelled the Wolves offense and helped swing momentum back towards the Wildcats.  They claimed seven consecutive points, taking a 7-6 lead. 
 
Another hard fought battle ensued, the two sides exchanging points until Central Washington put together a five-point run that started on a kill by Kiah Jones. 
 
Jones finished the match with 19 kills.  She also amassed 15 digs and five block assists.
 
Western Oregon pulled within two, but Bridgette Webb put the set away with a kill.  The 25-22 set victory brought the match back to even at 1-1.
 
The Wolves claimed a quick 3-0 advantage in the third set.  Central responded with three consecutive points of their own with kills from Jones and Madison Weg.  The Wildcats brought the set back to even at 6-6 a few short points later.
 
Central was forced to come back from small deficits throughout the remainder of the third set.  The Wolves pulled ahead for good on a three-point run that put them up 20-17.  They held on for a 25-22 set victory and a 2-1 advantage in the match.
 
The Wolves stormed out to a 10-4 lead in the fourth set.  Central battled back, taking points in bunches, to level the set at 17-17.  The Wildcats continued to take multiple points at a time until Webb closed the set with at a kill at 25-23 in favor of Central.
 
In the final set, the Wildcats nabbed a 10-5 advantage, forcing Western Oregon to call a timeout.  The Wolves rallied to take the fourth set, 15-13, and the match, 3-2.
 
Webb finished the match with 16 kills and four block assists.  Weg added 14 kills and five block assists to her season totals.  Kyla Morgan notched 24 digs.  Gaby Aihara recorded 32 assists, while Nikole Cook picked up 26.
 
"Maddy, Kiah, and Bridgette were scoring pretty well, but Western Oregon was scoring too," Andaya noted.  "It just wasn't enough.  We needed more offense or needed to make more stops.  We will go back and get rested up and go battle in Nampa on Tuesday."
 
The Wildcats are back in action next week on Tuesday (Sept. 20) in Nampa, Idaho for a GNAC match against Northwest Nazarene.  First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. PDT.