Monmouth, Ore - A balanced offensive attack throttled the Central Washington University volleyball team past Western Oregon University, as the Wildcats wounded the Wolves 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-19, 25-23) on Thursday night.
Four Wildcats (10-2, 4-1) reached double figures in kills, led by Shelby Mauritson. She caused problems all night long for the Wolves (5-8, 2-4), leading all players with 17 kills. Bridgette Webb had an outstanding all-around night for the Wildcats. Webb had 12 kills on a .407 hitting percentage, good enough to lead the entire game. Webb protected the court well, blocking 10 attacks from the Wolves. Sarah Joffs smashed home 11 attacks, while Makala Swart racked up 10 kills. The Wildcat totals featured 58 kills, of which Gabrielle Aihara assisted on 52.
"Gaby stayed the course and trusted her hitters," head coach Mario Andaya said. "Four players in double digits was a testament to her play. Bridgette had a heck of a game in the middle and really helped ignite our offense. Kyla showed why she's a special player and grinded put some big shots from WOU."
The Wildcats pounced on the Wolves early in the first set. An ace from Swart sent the score to 8-4. Later in the set, the score was 15-12 when a kill from Joffs sparked a 10-6 run that gave the Wildcats a 25-18. The second set was a mirror image of the first, seeing the Wolves take an 8-4 lead, forcing the Wildcats to take a timeout. It worked, as a kills from Webb made the score 9-8 in favor of the Wolves, who used one of their timeouts. The set featured back and fourth action that settled at 22 all. It was the Wolves who jumped out 25-22.
Coming out of the break, the third set featured more competitive action. It was tied at 15 when Swart had killed, Webb and Madison Weg teamed up for a block and an attack error forced the Wolves to call timeout facing a three point deficit. An ace from Swart brought up set point for the Wildcats. Joffs ended the set with a kill, 25-19.
The Wolves led 7-6 in the fourth set when the Wildcats flexed their muscle, going on a 7-3 capped by a kill from Webb. It didn't phase the Wolves, as they put together an impressive 14-6 run that put them two points away from winning the set. With their backs against the wall, the Wildcats used a 5-0 run to win the set 25-23, taking the match 3-1.
"Overall our team competed hard and when tested showed resolve.," Andaya said. "This was a great team win."
The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m., when the team takes on Concordia, (Ore) in what should be an excellent GNAC matchup.
