BELLINGHAM, Wash.- Central Washington's Maggie McTaggart tallied a team-high 13 kills and 10 digs, but it wasn't enough as the CWU women's volleyball team dropped a three-set match to the No. 5-ranked Western Washington Vikings (17-25, 24-26, 20-25) in front of a packed crowd at the WECU Court at Carver Gym Saturday evening.
 
Western Washington cruised to a first-set victory, outhitting the Wildcats .357 to .125 and taking the frame 25-17. The Vikings jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the second set, but the Wildcats used a 7-0 run to flip the script and claim an 11-8 advantage. Tied 12-12, a kill by Sabrina Wheelhouse sparked another CWU run to jump out to a 19-14 lead. The Vikings wouldn't go away quietly, closing the frame on a five-point run to earn a 26-24 victory and go up 2-0 in the match.
 
The Wildcats attempted to mount a comeback in the third set, but the Viking offensive attack was too much for CWU to handle. With the score even at 5-5, the Vikings scored five of the next six points to claim a 10-6 lead. Trailing 15-20, Madison Weg attempted to spark a come back with back-to-back kills. CWU and WWU would trade points down the stretch, but the Vikings won the final point to take the set 25-20 and the match 3-0.
 
The Wildcats totaled 39 kills and hit .135 on the evening, and despite out-digging the Vikings 86 to 85, WWU managed to outhit the Wildcats with a .242 hitting percentage. CWU totaled four aces on the evening, but committed three service errors on the night.
 
McTaggart finished the evening recording her third double-double of the season, notching 13 kills and ten digs. Bridgette Webb added eight kills and Bridgette Webb chipped in with seven kills for the Wildcats. Weg and Wheelhouse tallied five kills each. Wheelhouse also led the Wildcats with five blocks in the match.
 
Sophomore Gabrielle Aihara dished out a team-high 20 assists, while Niki Cook registered 15 assists. Junior Shelby Mauritson led CWU with 24 digs, followed by sophomore libero Kyla Morgan with 16.
 
CWU dropped to 19-9 overall and 14-6 in GNAC play with the loss. Western Washington improved to 25-3 on the season and 19-1 in conference action.
 
The Wildcats will now wait and see if they are selected to compete in the NCAA Regional tournament. The NCAA will release the Regional tournament lineup on Monday at 4:30 p.m.  The Wildcats look to make their sixth-consecutive regional berth.
 
-CWU-