ELLENSBURG, Wash.- Led by four players in double-digit kills, the Central Washington University volleyball team (12-5, 7-2 GNAC) claimed a hard-fought five-set victory (25-16, 19-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-8) over No. 10 Northwest Nazarene University (16-1, 8-1 GNAC) Tuesday evening in Nicholson Pavilion.
 
"We knew it was going to be a marathon match," CWU head coach Mario Andaya said. "I am proud of how we sustained our offense tonight against a pretty good defense. I was most proud of how we didn't crack defensively, which has been a point of emphasis all year. NNU wins ball games because of their offense. If we could make some big stops and slow them down, we knew that we had a good chance to come away with victory."
 
Senior Sabrina Wheelhouse tallied a team-high 13 kills and .440 hitting percentage to pace CWU offensively. Shelby Mauritson and Bridgette Webb each registered 12 kills apiece, and Madison Weg added 10 of her own to round out the list of Wildcats with double-digit kills. Wheelhouse also had eight blocks and senior Sara Joffs chipped in nine kills and hit .400.
 
"Having multiple players with double-digit kills was huge," Andaya explained. "Keeping them off balance with multiple options gave us a better chance to score. We found a good rhythm through our middles and it helped bolster our offensive production."
 
Five Wildcats also recorded double-digit digs in the match, including 22 from Mauritson for her 12th double-double of the season. Sophomore Kyla Morgan recorded 20 digs, followed by Kaycee O'Brien with a career-high 17 digs.
 
Sophomores Gabrielle Aihara recorded her seventh double-double of the season with a team high 29 assists and 15 digs. Niki Cook claimed her fourth double-double with 25 assists and 10 digs.
 
NNU tallied more kills (68-65), assists (66-59) and digs (120-102), but Wildcats held the upper hand in blocks (11-4) and hitting percentage (.243-.171).
 
The Wildcats dominated the opening frame, leading by as many as 11 points (23-12). The Crusaders attempted to chip its way back with a 3-0 run late in the set, but a kill by Maggie McTaggart propelled CWU to a 25-16 set victory.
 
Central Washington jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the second stanza with kills from Mauritson and Wheelhouse and a service ace by Morgan. NNU battled back to even the set five separate times and used a 3-0 run to take a 9-7 advantage. The Crusaders would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the set, cruising to a 25-19 win.
 
Webb did it all in the third set, registering six kills with a .556 hitting percentage and two digs to help lead CWU to a 25-22 win. The Wildcats hit .373 in the frame with Wheelhouse and Joffs also recording hitting percentages above .500.
 
Trailing 10-6 midway through the fourth frame, a Weg kill sparked a Wildcat 6-0 run to give CWU its first lead of the set. The Crusaders countered with a 5-0 run of their own to reclaim a 15-12 advantage. A back-and-forth battle ensued for the remainder of the frame until a kill by Kendra Bodine allowed NNU to notch the match 2-2.
 
Mauritson registered a pair of kills in the early goings of the final stanza to give Central an 8-3 advantage. The Wildcats used another 3-0 run to extend their lead to 12-5 and back-to-back kills by Joffs and Wheelhouse gave CWU the set 15-8, and the match 3-2.
 
The Wildcats will make the quick trip over to Billings, Mont., to take on the Montana State Yellowjackets on Thursday night. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in the Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
-CWU-