Ellensburg, Wash - The Central Washington University Wildcats played a pair of games on Saturday. The Wildcats put a cloud over the Sunbirds of Fresno Pacific, taking the game 3-0 (25-19, 25-11, 25-14) before falling in three sets (27-25, 25-19, 25-19) to #11 CSU San Bernardino.
The Wildcats (2-1) took advantage of quick starts in all three sets against the Sunbirds (0-4). The Wildcats obtained a 12-4 lead in the first set, a 16-4 in the second set and a 12-4 lead again in the third set.
"We kept a lot of pressure on them," head coach Mario Andaya said. "I like how we sustained some ball control. Fresno Pacific is really scrappy, they'll throw some different things at you. We had to stay composed and make sure we did our things on our side of net well, and we did for the most part."
The Wildcats smothered the Sunbirds, keeping them to a .019 hitting percentage. Makala Swart, Sarah Joffs and Julia Mellander had five blocks, with Madison Weg adding four of her own. Swart led the team with 13 digs while adding six kills for an impressive afternoon.
Shelby Mauritson led the club with 10 kills. She was consistent, chipping in 7 kills on a .278 hitting percentage. Most of those kills were set up by Gabrielle Aihara, who had 25 assists.
Against the Coyotes (4-0), the Wildcats traded runs throughout the first set. A pair of kills gave from Swart gave the Wildcats a 25-24 lead before the Coyotes snatched the set from them. The second set was tied at nine before the Coyotes went on a 10-4 run, powering them to the set win. The Wildcats answered a 4-0 run to open the third set with a 6-0 run of their own. Again, the Coyotes broke away from the Wildcats during the middle part of the third set, and would go on to take the game in straight sets.
Three Wildcats contributed double figures in kills. Swart led the group with 12 kills, while Mauritson and Weg each added 11. Aihara racked up 33 assists.
"San Bernardino was solid," Mario Andaya said. "They are one of the better teams, so we got to see where we stack up against them. Physically they don't have a lot of weakness, they play a very strong defense. I liked how we responded in spurts. I told the girls that some of our best moments were very positive. If we can sustain something like that, hopefully we can beat a team like that. Right now, we have a lot of work to do."
The Wildcats head to Irvine, California for a match against Notre Dame de Namur on Friday at 8:30 a.m. Then on Saturday, the Wildcats play Concordia (Calif) at 1 p.m. and CSU East Bay at 5:30 p.m.
