ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University volleyball team snapped a three-game losing streak in a match against Montana State University Billings. The Wildcats shut down the Yellowjackets 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-18) on Thursday night.
The Wildcats (8-7, 4-4) welcomed back
Lexi Schamadan to the rotation earlier this week. The sophomore missed a handful of matches with an injury. Schamadan found her rhythm against the Yellowjackets (4-12, 2-5). The Phoenix, Arizona native finished the match with 10 kills on a .261 hitting percentage. She also had two total blocks and two digs.
"I'm just happy that I was able to come in and play the role that they asked me to play," Schamadan said. "My teammates were really supportive and encouraging of me stepping in after I was out for a little bit. Their confidence in me was huge and the least I could do was give them the support that they give me."
"We haven't been getting a ton of kills over the last few weeks," CWU Head Coach
Mario Andaya said. "She is super dynamic and can hit to the right side and the left side of the court. She brings extra versatility to our offense. She had a great night, she stayed active, stayed confident and had some big swings."
Schamadan did not lead the Wildcats with kills at the end of the night. It was
Makala Swart who pioneered the Wildcat offense with 12 kills on a .324 hitting percentage. Swart added seven digs and one total block. Another standout for the Wildcats included
Ashley Kaufman. The freshman pounded seven kills on an impressive .375 hitting percentage.
Hitters were helped by excellent sets from
Gabrielle Aihara and
Sydney Remsberg. Aihara led the squad with 21 assists, while Remsberg joined in with 10 of her own. The duo helped power a Wildcat offense that finished the game with a .226 hitting percentage.
Even with the strong offense, the Wildcat defense was much more fearsome. The Wildcats were able to hold the Yellowjackets to a .096 hitting percentage for the match. The Wildcats forced 23 attack errors from the Yellowjackets, 10 more than the Wildcats had.
Bridgette Webb led the team's defense at the net. The senior out of Yakima ended the match with four total blocks.
Diana Fa'amausili had four total blocks while
Julia Mellander had three. Fa'amausili and Mellander each had a solo block during the match.
Kyla Morgan put together a strong night as well with 21 digs.
"I really went out and played for my team," Morgan said. "I thought as a team, we played a lot more connected. It's nice to see the things we work on in practice come together in a game. I thought Lexi [Schamadan] played great tonight. She had a lot of kills. Bridgette [Webb] and Gaby [Aihara] just keep grinding and it's really nice to play with them on the court."
The first set was even as the two teams landed on a 7-7 tie. A Yellowjacket service error opened the door for the Wildcats to go on a short 5-2 that gave them a 12-9 lead. The 'Jackets pulled to with one before the Wildcats would score four-consecitve points. Three of the four points came on Yellowjacket attack errors. The run gave them a 17-12 lead.
The Yellowjackets worked their way back into the opening set, cutting the Wildcat lead to 21-19. The Wildcats were able to piece together the points they needed to take the set 25-22.
The second set saw more close action as the Wildcats inched their way to an 8-6 lead. The Wildcats ripped off a 10-2 run that created massive separation, giving the team a 19-8 lead. During the run, Kaufman had two aces and a kill while Schamadan smacked two kills of her own.
The Yellowjackets created a nice run of their own, outscoring Central 10-3 during the span. The run was a tad too late, as a kill from Kaufman ended the set with kill. The Wildcats took it 25-18.
Another monster run aided the Wildcats in the third set. This time, it happened right away. The Wildcats doubled the Yellowjackets score, scurrying out to a 12-6 lead. Swart was the leader with three kills during the run.
MSUB worked their way back into the set, trailing the Wildcats 13-11. The Wildcats responded with a 6-0 run, pushing their lead to 19-11. From there, the Wildcats were able to point their way to a 25-18 set victory, thus taking the match 3-0.
"I thought we did a good job of creating a lot of pressure offensively," Coach Andaya stated. "Our setters did a good job of putting our hitters in good spots. Billings has a lot of different routes in their offense and we did a good job of trying to defend that. Once we got the ball back, we did a good job of scoring and it worked in our favor tonight."
It'll be a week before the Wildcats are back in action. They host Western Oregon on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. inside Nicholson Pavilion.
