FIRST SERVE
Central Washington (19-9, 14-6 GNAC), who earned the No. 6 seed in the West Region bracket, will be making its sixth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and will face No. 3 Northwest Nazarene (24-4, 16-4 GNAC) in the first round on Thursday (Nov. 29) with first serve scheduled for 12 p.m. PST.
 
WEST REGION DETAILS
Eight teams will compete in the single-elimination tournament, hosted at the Van Dyne Gym on the campus of Call Baptist University, from Thursday, Nov. 30 through Saturday, Dec. 2. The West Region champion will advance to the NCAA Division II Championships, which will be played out Dec. 7-9 at the UWF Field House at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Fla.
 
This year's West Regional will be made up of four Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams and two teams each from the PacWest and California Collegiate Athletic Association conferences. Behind CBU at No. 1, the GNAC's Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene are the second and third seeds, respectively. Cal State San Bernardino of the CCAA is fourth, followed the PacWest's Azusa Pacific in fifth, Central Washington and Alaska Anchorage in sixth and seventh and the CCAA's Sonoma State is in the eighth and final spot. The digital program for the NCAA Division II Championships can be found here.
 
WILDCATS RECEIVE GNAC RECOGNITION
Central Washington senior middle blocker Sabrina Wheelhouse added to her postseason hardware as she was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Defensive Player of the Year.
 
In addition to being named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year, Wheelhouse earned a unanimous spot on the 14-person All-GNAC First Team, while junior outside hitter Shelby Mauritson also received first-team recognition. Sophomore libero Kyla Morgan was named an All-GNAC Honorable Mention selection.
 
Wednesday's announcement marks the third consecutive year in which Wheelhouse has been named a first team recipient. Meanwhile, this is the first all-conference honor for Mauritson and Morgan.
 
Wheelhouse led the conference and all of NCAA with 1.50 blocks per set and ranked second with a .319 hitting percentage. The Eugene, Ore. native played in every match for the Wildcats and finished the regular season with a total of 165 blocks, 206 kills and a flawless reception percentage. 
 
Mauritson was one of the leagues' most lethal attackers, finishing the 2017 regular season campaign ranked fifth in the conference with 3.62 kills per set and sixth with 4.11 points per set. She also helped CWU defensively, registering a total of 402 digs, which is 13th-most in the league, and 59 blocks.
 
Morgan anchored the Wildcat defense with 556 digs on the season. She also ranked fifth in the conference with 5.05 digs per set and notched 19 service aces on the season.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Northwest Nazarene
Northwest Nazarene enters this week ranked 14th in the AVCA Coaches poll after capturing second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Like the Wildcats, the Nighthawks dropped their final two matches of the regular season against No. 5 Western Washington (0-3) and Simon Fraser (1-3) to fall to 24-4 overall and 16-4 in GNAC play. The Wildcats and NNU split their two matches this season, with each team earning a home victory.
 
Kendra Bodine leads the Nighthawks' offense and ranks first in the conference with a 4.36 kills-per-set average, while Madi Farrell follows closely behind with 3.90. Farrell also ranks first in the conference with a .417 hitting percentage and third in blocks (1.36/set). Hailey Cook runs the offense, dishing out 11.60 assists-per-set to rank second in the GNAC.
 
UP NEXT
If the Wildcats defeat the Nighthawks on Thursday, they will play another familiar opponent in either Western Washington or Alaska Anchorage on Friday, Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. PST in the West Region semifinals.  
 
-CWU-