ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University volleyball team is on the west side of the state as they take on Seattle Pacific at 2 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
GAME INFORMATION
Wildcats at Seattle Pacific
Saturday | 2 p.m. PT
Royal Brougham Pavilion | Seattle, Wash.  
 
QUOTABLE
"This is another critical road match for us," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "We'll need to be good in all phases against SPU." 
 
WILDCATS REACHING MILESTONES
Kyla Morgan moved into fourth on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-time digs list on Thursday. She entered the match against Saint Martin's just 15 digs shy of passing Allison McKay (2013-2016) of Simon Fraser. Morgan passed McKay's 2,094 career total with 19 digs against the Saints. Morgan's new career total sits at 2,099. 
 
Makala Swart entered Thursday's contest just two digs away from grabbing her 500^th career dig. Swart eclipsed the mark early on in the first set. She'd continue to make history throughout the match, grabbing her 600^th career kill in the second set. Swart came into the match with 597 career kills and would leave with 607.
 
Gabrielle Aihara is closing in on 3,000 career assists. Aihara carries 2,991 career assists into Saturday's contest against Seattle Pacific. She's just nine assists away from reaching the milestone. Aihara sits firmly at 18^th all time on the GNAC list. She could potentially pass Western Oregon's Amy Herron for 17^th all-time with 3,017 assists. 
 
Bridgette Webb is in reach of her 600^th career kill. Webb sports a total of 591 career kills heading into Saturday's match with Seattle Pacific. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Central Washington University volleyball team traveled to Lacey, Wash. for a match against Saint Martin's. The Wildcats squandered the Saints 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-16) on Thursday.

Swart led everyone with 10 kills in the contest. She'd complete the double-double by adding 10 digs. Aihara had the only other double-double for the Wildcats. Aihara achieved the mark with match-high 15 assists while adding 12 digs to the Wildcats defensive effort. 
 
Lexi Schamadan, Julia Mellander, Webb, Ashley Kaufman and Diana Fa'amausili finished the day with five kills each as the Wildcats used a balance offense to get the better of the Saints. Kaufman added four service aces and 12 digs to a solid night's work. Fa'amausili made the most of her attacks, ending the match with a .444 hitting percentage. 
 
Defensively, the Wildcats suppressed the Saints to a -.036 hitting percentage for the match. The Wildcats had nine total blocks while taking advantage of 23 attack errors from the Saints. Morgan led the way with 19 digs.  Mellander and Fa'amausili added six total blocks to their performances. 
 
GNAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the second consecutive week, Morgan has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week. 
 
Morgan was instrumental for the Wildcats as they picked up two wins last week. The team knocked off Western Oregon 3-0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-17) on Thursday before taking down Concordia (Ore.) 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-14) on Saturday. Morgan had 20 digs in three sets against the Wolves. She beat that performance with 22 digs against the Cavaliers. Over the weekend, Morgan had 42 digs over six sets played for an average of seven digs per set. 
 
Two weeks ago, Morgan became the only player in program history to have 2,000 career digs. Morgan's career total sits at 2,080 digs, good enough for fifth all-time in conference history. She's closing in on passing Alison McKay of Simon Fraser for fourth on the all-time list. Morgan needs just 15 more digs to move into fourth all-time in the conference.

WILDCATS IN THE GNAC
After the first time through the GNAC schedule, the Wildcats find themselves in the top half of the conference statistics. The Wildcats jumped all the way to third in conference by keeping opponents to a .163 hitting percentage. The team kept the Saints in the negative for hitting percentage on Thursday. The Wildcats rank fourth in blocks by averaging 2.23 per set. The team ranks second with 17.70 digs per set.

The defensive is fueled by performances in reception and at the net. Morgan leads the conference with 5.72 digs per set. She also ranks 18^th in the country in the same category. Mellander ranks fourth in conference with 1.20 blocks per set. Mellander's totals are 37^th best in the country. Fa'amausili ranks 10^th in blocks with .96 per set. 
 
Experienced players highlight the offensive standouts for the Wildcats. Aihara's 9.30 assists per set is the sixth best in conference. Swart ranks sixth in conference with 3.36 kills per set. The team also ranks third in assists (12.18) and kills (13.08) per set. 
 
SCOUTING SEATTLE PACIFIC 
The Falcons head into Saturday's match in the middle of the GNAC standings. The teams sports an 8-11 overall record while going 5-6 in conference play. The Falcons are riding momentum heading into Saturday. They've won their last three matches, including a sweep of Northwest Nazarene on Thursday. When the Nighthawks were in Ellensburg, they outlasted the Wildcats in five sets. 
 
Gabby Oddo returns for her senior season after picking up First Team All-GNAC honors last year. The senior has racked up 239 kills this season while hitting at a .201 clip. Oddo is averaging 3.41 kills per set. She ranks fourth in the GNAC in kills. During the team's three match win streak, Oddo has had double figure kills, including 16 on Thursday night. 
 
Maddie Batiste has become an offensive option for the Falcons. She's got 236 kills for an average of 3.37 kills per set. Other Falcon standouts include Gabi Stegemoller and Jaeden Hooker. Stegemoller is averaging 1.77 kills per set and is hitting at a .278 clip. She's also blocking .87 attacks per set. Hooker has added some offense to the team with 1.27 kills per set. She's also useful defensively, with 29 total blocks on the season. 
 
The offense runs through Lindsey Lambert. Lambert has 536 assists this season for an average eight assists per set. The mark is good enough for eighth best in conference. Maddie Donohoe leads the club with 263 digs on the year. 

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats own a 44-34 record all-time against the Falcons. Since 2002, the Wildcats have gone 13-5 at home while going 10-7 on the road. In more recent history, the Wildcats are 9-1 in their last 10 meetings with the Falcons. The last game the Wildcats dropped came on the road on Oct. 27, 2016, in a match that took five sets to decide. This season, the Wildcats swept the Falcons at home on Sept. 26.