ELLENSBURG, Wash. – On a night when Kyla Morgan was honored for being the only player in program history to reach 2,000 career digs, the Central Washington University volleyball team took care of Western Oregon 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-17) inside Nicholson Pavilion. 
 
Morgan entered Thursday's contest with 2,037 career digs. The mark is good enough for fifth all-time in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. When the Wildcats (9-7, 5-4 GNAC) met the Wolves (3-13, 1-8 GNAC), Morgan added 20 digs to her career total. She's just 37 digs away from passing Simon Fraser's Alison McKay (2013-16) who's 2,094 digs rank fourth all-time in the GNAC. 
 
"That's a lot of digs," CWU head Coach Mario Andaya said. "She's kind of our rock back there defensively and also in the serve and receive came. She had 20 digs in three sets tonight and we feed off that. It gives our team the ability to score and extend rallies. Most of all, it brings a lot of energy to our team. Over four years, I couldn't be happier for her." 
 
"Kyla [Morgan] is phenomenal," Makala Swart said. "I'm not surprised at all that she reached that. She flies around all over the court. I've never seen a libero that can get as many balls up as Kyla [Morgan] can. She plays such a huge role on our team. She's such a good teammate and I'm really happy for her." 
 
Defense was the theme for the Wildcats on Thursday. The team held the Wolves to a .147 hitting percentage. The Wolves could only muster 29 kills on the match. Julia Mellander and Diana Fa'amausili were stout at the net. Mellander led the way with five total blocks, while Fa'amausili added three total blocks of her own. Offensively, the Wildcats had 44 kills on a .297 hitting percentage. They gained a major advantage from behind the service line as they totaled eight service aces to the Wolves' two.  
 
"We played well," Coach Andaya stated. "We had a solid couple days of practice after having the weekend off. We stayed the course on some things we needed to clean up. I thought we hit a lot better. We still hit a few out of bounds, but as long as that isn't the story at the end of the day, we are pretty happy. I thought we did well in producing kills tonight." 
 
Swart tied for a match-high 11 kills on the evening. She had an outstanding .360 hitting percentage. Ashley Kaufman also had a strong night, racking up nine kills and 15 digs. Fa'amausili added to her excellent defensive performance with eight kills. 
 
Gabrielle Aihara and Sydney Remsberg ran an efficient offense. Aihara led the way with 18 assists, while Remsberg wasn't far off with 17 of her own. 
 
"I thought our energy was awesome," Swart added. "We've been working on having better chemistry. Ashley [Kaufman] and I are getting really confident passing next to each other. It's always awesome to connect with a teammate like that. Gaby [Aihara] and Sydney [Remsberg] are doing a really good job of locating sets. Even the really weird balls that are all over the place. I think Diana [Fa'amausili] came in with some huge blocks and got everyone hyped up." 
 
The Wildcats and Wolves opened the first set by trading points. The score was tied at four when the Wildcats put together a 5-1 run to take a 9-5 lead. The Wolves answered with a 5-1 run that tied the set at 10. Kaufman had two consecutive kills followed by an ace. The outburst of offense started a 9-3 run for the Wildcats. Fa'amausili book-ended the run with two straight kills. From there the Wildcats were able to cruise to a 25-16 set win.  
 
Momentum from the first set carried into the second set for the Wildcats. The team opened with a massive 14-6 run. Lexi Schamadan, Fa'amausili and Swart all had two kills during that span. The Wolves tried to work their way back into the set, but the Wildcat offense continued to produce. They'd go on to take the set 25-16 and advance their match lead to 2-0. 
 
The slight pause between the second and third sets did not slow down the Wildcats. Another 13-6 run propelled the team into the lead. The Wildcats continued to roll, as the team landed on a 20-11 set lead. Kaufman fired home the final kill of the match, as the Wildcats won the set 25-17 and took the match in three sets. 
 
Up next for the Wildcats is a match with Concordia (Ore.) that takes place on Saturday at 7 p.m. inside Nicholson Pavilion.  
 
"We'll have to regroup after this match and look at what Concordia (Ore.) is doing," Coach Andaya said. "They have a solid program, it looks like they are playing really steady. We have to play a pretty clean game and hope to get some kills and we'll see where that takes us."