TAMPA, Fla. - The Central Washington University volleyball team opened the 2017 campaign in sweeping fashion, with a pair of victories over the University of New Haven and No. 17 University of Tampa in the first day of the Terrace Hotels Classic on Friday, Sept. 1.
 
In their opening match of the day, the Wildcats defeated New Haven in straight sets (25-15, 25-1, 25-8).
 
Junior Shelby Mauritson led the way with 13 kills, while fellow junior Maggie McTaggart added eight kills and Madison Weg tallied six. Senior Sarah Joffs recorded a career-high six blocks to lead the Wildcats at the net to go along with four kills and a .444 hitting percentage.
 
"Sara has been a rock this preseason and we knew the work she put in was going to pay dividends," CWU head coach Mario Andaya said. "On the block she was big and we knew we were not going to miss a beat."
 
The Wildcats ran away with the match registering 37 kills on 80 attempts and outhitting the Chargers .337 to .009 in the match. New Haven totaled 21 hitting errors, while the Wildcats managed just seven through three frames.
 
Central put up an outstanding performance on the defensive end, with 7.0 total blocks and no reception errors.  Sophomore libero Kyla Morgan held down the back line with 11 digs, followed by McTaggart with 10.
 
The first set opened in back-and-forth fashion but CWU used a 10-0 run to go up 16-6. Three attack errors by the Chargers and a Mauritson kill would close out the set, giving the Wildcats a 25-15 victory.
 
The second frame featured the Wildcats jumping out to 10-4 lead following back-to-back service aces by McTaggart and a pair of kills from Mauritson, which forced the Chargers to call an early timeout. The Wildcats closed out the set on a 9-2 to run to claim the 25-10 set victory. Mauritson notched eight of her 13 total kills in the second set to give the Wildcats a .520 to .111 edge in hitting percentage.
 
Another 10-0 run in the middle of the third set allowed Central to breeze to a 25-8 win. The Wildcats relied on the attacking prowess of Weg down the stretch, who tallied four kills in the frame, to close out the sweep of the Chargers.
 
Central's second fixture of the day featured a tough test against No. 17 University of Tampa. Faced with moments of adversity, the Wildcats managed to sweep the Spartans in straight sets (25-22, 29-27, 25-19).
 
"Tampa out worked us statistically but our ability to pass and keep rallies alive was the difference in the match," Andaya said. "We are much better defensively than we have been the last couple of years, but it is still early. That was a big area of focus for us coming into this season. We will celebrate our start to the season, but we have to come back tomorrow and play with the same potential."
 
The Wildcats were led by McTaggart who had 10 kills (3 errors, 27 attempts) with a .259 hitting percentage and seven digs. Mauritson added 10 kills, nine digs and two blocks. Sophomore setter Nikki Cook led the Wildcats with 18 assists, while Aihara added 15.
 
"Maggie has been working really hard and it showed today," Andaya explained. "She showed a lot of power and didn't back down. I was impressed with her ability to play to her strengths and played scrappy defense. We relied on her in our last match as our go to hitter."
 
Morgan once again led the CWU back line with 19 digs, followed by Mauritson with nine. Senior middle blocker Sabrina Wheelhouse totaled four of Central's nine blocks and added six kills on 11 attempts (.455).
 
The first set was tightly contested until a kill by McTaggart sparked a 4-0 run for the Wildcats to take a 22-19 advantage. Central would retain the lead for the remainder of the set to claim a 25-22 victory.
 
The Spartans came out strong in the second frame, claiming a 19-14 lead. Central battled back to even the score at 23-23. The set would require extra points, as the Wildcats outlasted the Spartans to come away with a 29-27 victory.
 
Tampa struck first in the third stanza, leading 8-3 early in the set. Once again, CWU demonstrated their resilience with a 7-2 run to even the score at 10 with three kills coming from Mauritson. Mauritson added another pair of kills to give the Wildcats their first lead of the frame, 13-12. Sophomore Bridgette Webb sealed the deal with a block to finish off the sweep.
 
The Wildcats return to the Bob Martinez Athletics Center tomorrow to 9:45 PST to face Concordia University, St. Paul. The match will be streamed live at here.
 
-CWU-