Lacey, Wash - Shelby Mauritson became the second player to reach 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs as a member of the Central Washington University volleyball team, as they beat Saint Martin's 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-18) on Saturday night.
Mauritson had a breakout season her sophomore year. The Medras, Oregon native racked up 280 kills. Her production was solidified one year ago. She accumulated 413 kills, averaging 3.59 kills per set, earning first team All-GNAC honors. Mauritson entered the 2018 season as a unanimous selection to earn all-conference honors again. Before Saturday's match, she had 298 kills for an average of 3.82 kills per set, second most in conference. Mauritson joins Crystal Ames (2003-2005) as the only players with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in their career.
"I could not be happier for Shelby," head coach Mario Andaya said. "Her work ethic, commitment to the program, and belief in herself has lead her to a pretty special career thus far. I know her mindset will be to get back at it tomorrow and get ready for NNU, but I hope she can reflect a bit and smile about this awesome accomplishment. Shelby has bigger goals than this, but this has locked her in among the best to have played at Central."
The Saints (4-18, 2-14) shocked the Wildcats (18-5,12-4) in the first set, racing out to a 9-3 lead. Andaya called a timeout to halt the momentum of the Saints. Bridgette Webb had the kill that sparked a 5-0 run from the Wildcats. Webb was crucial for the Wildcats in the first set, knocking home seven kills on a .600 hitting percentage. After trading points, the Wildcats pulled away late to take the set 25-22.
The Wildcats opened the second set with 4-0, forcing the Saints to use an early timeout. The timeout proved ta pit stop on the road to a 15-3 run for the Wildcats. The Wildcats cruised to a 25-13 set win. The set featured the historic kill from Mauritson that gave her the milestone.
The third set was tied at five before the Wildcats used a 5-2 run, pushing the score to 10-7. The Saints answered with a timeout. The Wildcats pounced following the timeout, going on an 8-2 run, propelling the Wildcats to a 25-18 set win.
"I was super happy about our resiliency on offense," Andaya said. "We played good defense from the start but we couldn't convert off those efforts. SMU played hard and we had to grind out the kills. Bridgette was a stud and Gaby went to her to get us on track. After that we continued our offensive pressure and it worked out."
As a team, the Wildcats held the Saints to a .122 hitting percentage. Sarah Joffs led all players with seven blocks. Kyla Morgan tied for a game-high 17 digs, while Gabrielle Aihara and Mauritson added 12 of their own.
The Wildcats return to Nicholson Pavilion on Tuesday, when they host Northwest Nazarene at 7:00 p.m.
