Match 27: Central Washington vs. Simon Fraser
Thursday, Nov. 16 | 7:00 p.m. PST
Burnaby, B.C. | West Gym
Stream: Stretch Internet
Live Stats
 
Match 28: Central Washington vs. #5 Western Washington
Saturday, Nov. 18 | 7:00 p.m. PST
Bellingham, Wash. | WECU Court at Carver Gym
Stream: Stretch Internet
Live Stats
 
FIRST SERVE
The Central Washington University women's volleyball team (19-7, 14-4 GNAC) closes out regular-season play this week with road matches against Simon Fraser University (13-13, 10-8 GNAC) and No. 5 Western Washington University (23-3, 17-1 GNAC).
 
The Wildcats will square off against SFU on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. PST. Central Washington will then face their instate rivals WWU on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. PST.
 
RECAPPING LAST WEEK
Central Washington earned a season sweep over Montana State billings with a 3-0 sweep over the Yellowjackets at Nicholson Pavilion last Saturday. Junior Shelby Mauritson paced the offense with 17 kills and senior Sara Joffs added a career-high ten kills with five blocks. Sophomores Gabrielle Aihara and Niki Cook both tallied double-doubles in the match. Aihara dished out a team-high 21 assists and ten digs, followed by Cook with 15 assists and 11 digs.
 
Despite jumping out to a 2-0 set lead against No. 13 Northwest Nazarene, the Nighthawks still managed to escape Johnson Sports Center with a 3-2 victory over the Wildcats. CWU and NNU split their two matches this season, with both teams earning five-set home victories. Mauritson led the Wildcats with 16 kills, 21 digs and three service aces, followed by Maggie McTaggart and Sabrina Wheelhouse with 10 kills. Wheelhouse also recorded a team-high .474 hitting percentage and seven blocks in the match.
 
CWU IN CONFERENCE PLAY
With two conference matches still to be played, the Wildcats have already matched their most league wins (14) since 2012. With victories against Simon Fraser and No. 5 Western Washington, Central Washington will match the school's second most conference win total in the last 15 years. CWU has not registered 15 or 16 conference wins since 2005 when the squad went 16-2 in GNAC play. The Wildcats went a perfect 18-0 in conference action in 2004, but ultimately fell to Hawaii Pacific in the NCAA Division II West Region Tournament.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Simon Fraser
Simon Fraser dropped their games last week against Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific. SFU were swept 0-3 by the Saints on Thursday, Nov. 9, before dropping a four-set decision to the Falcons on Saturday. Before last week, the Clan were riding a five-match win streak dating back to Oct. 17. The Wildcats will look to finish the season sweep over SFU this week, after defeating the Clan 3-1 in Nicholson Pavilion on Sept. 16.
 
The Clan have a fairly balanced offensive attack with four athletes recording better than 2.50 kills-per-set. Kirsten Pinkney leads SFU, notching 3.40 kills/set. Tessa May has registered a team-high 254 kills this season (2.67 kills/set), and Christine Howlett follows with 243. May also leads the Clan at the net, totaling a team-high 96 blocks. Julia Tays dishes out 8.66 assists-per-set to lead the team and rank fifth in the conference.
 
Western Washington
Western Washington enters this week ranked fifth in the AVCA Coaches poll and first in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Vikings have only loss one conference match this season and are currently riding a 16-match win streak, dating back to their four-set loss to #13 Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 16. The Vikings defeated CWU in Ellensburg in four sets in their first GNAC match of the season.
 
Western Washington leads the conference in two statistical categories, recording 14.03 kills-per-set and 19.76 digs/set. The Vikings also rank second in hitting percentage (.255), assists (13.14/set) and blocks (2.76/set). Abby Phelps leads the Vikings' offense and ranks second in the conference with a 4.01 kills-per-set average, while Alisha Bettinson follows closely behind with 3.53. Michaela Hall ranks third in the GNAC with a .328 hitting percentage and Arielle Turner has registered a third-best 38 service aces this season. Joslyn Bopray ranks second in the conference (behind CWU's Sabrina Wheelhouse) in blocks-per-set, accumulating 1.48 per set.
 
UP NEXT
Central Washington will look to earn a bid into the NCAA West Regionals Volleyball Tournament, beginning Thursday, Nov. 30.
 
-CWU-