RIVERSIDE, Calif.- The Central Washington University women's volleyball team's 2017 season came to a close with a 3-2 loss (23-25, 27-25, 18-25, 25-23, 8-15) to the No. 14-ranked Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball West Region Tournament at Van Dyne Gym. The Wildcats, who were making their sixth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, end the season with a 19-10 overall record.
 
"We left it all out there," CWU head coach Mario Andaya said. "I was really proud with how we prepared for this match. It is not easy looking at the same things for the third time we have played these guys. We wanted to key on some things that we thought would help give us a chance to win. We went into this game with high hopes and we are dealing with some tough emotions. We knew the sets would be highly contested if both teams were playing well. We had our chances, but just didn't come through this time."
 
Junior outside hitter Shelby Mauritson tallied a team-high 15 kills and 16 digs for her 20th double-double of the season. She now has 27 double-figure-kill efforts this season and 41 over her career and she has had 10 or more digs in 22 matches this season and 36 during her career. The Madras, Ore. native also recorded four blocks and an ace in the match.
 
Freshman outside hitter Makala Swart registered 11 kills on 36 attempts for her second career double-digit kill effort as a Wildcat. She also contributed a career-high 13 digs and two blocks.
 
Senior middle blocker Sabrina Wheelhouse battled through flu-like symptoms to lead CWU at the net in her final match as a Wildcat. Wheelhouse totaled eight blocks against the Nighthawks to go along with six kills.
 
"I wouldn't trade these last few years for anything," Wheelhouse said about her career at CWU. "I thought we had a really good opportunity today to play a team we were familiar with. I'm excited for the next couple of years and what this team will be able to achieve."
 
Sophomore libero Kyla Morgan tallied a team-high 32 digs with just one reception error for her 28th double-digit effort of the season. The sophomore tandem of Gabrielle Aihara and Niki Cook ran the CWU offense and combined for 52 assists and ten digs.
 
The Nighthawks captured seven of the first nine points of the match. Trailing 10-15, the Wildcats rattled off three straight points to reduce the scoring margin to two behind a pair of kills from Wheelhouse and one by Mauritson. Central Washington managed to even the score 23-23 thanks to a kill by Madison Weg, but NNU took the next two points to take the set victory, 25-23. Mauritson had five kills on 11 swings with only one error for a .364 hitting percentage, while Morgan added seven digs in the stanza.
 
The Wildcats and Nighthawks opened the second frame trading points back-and-forth, until an NNU attack error and kill by Bridgette Webb gave Central a 10-8 lead. The Wildcats would lead by as many as four (15-11), but NNU countered with a 4-0 run to level the score once again. The set would feature ten ties and four lead changes. The Wildcats trailed 24-21 late in the frame, but refused to go away quietly. CWU relied on Swart and Mauritson down the stretch to even the score 25-25. Mauritson recorded a block and kill to close out the set, 27-25, in favor of the Wildcats and even the match score 1-1. 
 
The early goings of the third set was once again tightly contested with five ties and two lead changes. The Nighthawks separated themselves with a 4-0 run to claim a 14-10 lead. Trailing 19-13, the Wildcats captured the next four points to close the gap to just two. NNU called a timeout, up 19-17, and it was enough to stop the momentum as the Nighthawks registered back-to-back kills out of the break. CWU won one more point in the frame on a kill from Mauritson, but the Nighthawks closed the set winning six of the final seven points to take the frame 25-18 and go up 2-1 in the match.
 
Mauritson collected four kills, eight digs and a service ace to help guide the Wildcats to a 25-23 fourth-set win and force a decisive fifth frame. With the score leveled 11-11, CWU went on an 3-0 run to go up 14-11. The Wildcats then closed out the set with a kill by Weg, while Aihara registered the assist.
 
NNU opened the fifth set on a 5-1 run, but Central countered with a 3-1 run of their own to bring the score within two (6-4). Unfortunately, the Wildcats weren't able to get any closer as the Nighthawks closed out the set with a kill from Kendra Bodine to take the frame 15-8 and the match 3-2.
 
Northwest Nazarene (25-4) was led by a 20-kill, .385 hitting performance by Madi Farrell.
 
-CWU-