SEATTLE, Wash. – The Central Washington University volleyball team's four-match winning streak came to an end as Seattle Pacific rallied from down 2-0 to outlast the Wildcats 3-2 (20-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22, 18-16) on Saturday afternoon.  
 
Gabrielle Aihara entered Saturday's match just nine assists away from reaching 3,000 assists for her career. Aihara reached the milestone on the first point in the second set. The assist came on a kill from Lexi Schamadan. Aihara finished the match with 37 assists. She passed Western Oregon's Amy Herron (2006-09) for 17^th all-time on the GNAC list. Aihara left the match with 3,028 career assists, 11 more than Herron. 
 
Another Wildcat reached a milestone during Saturday's match against the Falcons. Bridgette Webb was nine kills short of 600 for her career. During the fourth set, Webb smashed home her ninth kill. Webb would finish the game with 11 kills. 
 
"Both are talented volleyball players who have made a big impact for us in a lot of ways," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "Both of the milestone are impressive but it still doesn't show everything they have done for our program. We're blessed to have them." 
 
The opening set between the Wildcats (12-8, 7-5 GNAC) and the Falcons (9-11, 6-6 GNAC) featured competitive action. The Falcons gained an early edge near the middle of the first set. The Wildcats trailed 11-9 before they put together a 9-4 run, putting them up 18-15. Makala Swart had three kills during the run. A timeout from the Falcons didn't slow the Wildcats down, as they went on to take the set 25-20.
 
The Wildcats were stout defensively in the first set. The team held the Falcons to a .128 hitting percentage. They also had three total blocks and forced the Falcons into make eight attack errors during the first set. Offensively, the Wildcats had 14 kills and hit .222. Swart led the group with four kills in the opening set. 
 
The Falcons opened the second set with a 7-4 run to take an early lead. Swart pieced together three kills in the first four points of a 9-2 run that gave the Wildcats a 13-9 lead. The Falcons came out of the timeout and scored five straight points, prompting the Wildcats to use a timeout. 
 
Coming out of the timeout, the Wildcats went on a 6-3 run to take a 19-17 lead. The Falcons fought back into the match, and would take a slim 24-23 lead over the Wildcats. The Wildcats scored three straight points to grab a come-from-behind win in the second set. Ashley Kaufman had the kill that tied the set at 24. It was Swart who finished off the set, spiking home the final two points of the set to give the Wildcats the 26-24 win. The Wildcats owned a commanding 2-0 match lead. 
 
Both teams struggled offensively in the second set. The Falcons hit .057 while the Wildcats hit just .109. The Wildcats gained their advantage by converting five more attacks than the Falcons with 16 kills to the home team's 11.
 
The third set opened with the two teams trading points. The Wildcats owned a 7-6 lead before the Falcons scored four straight points to go ahead 10-7. Later in the set, the Falcons led 14-12 as the Wildcats had a 6-2 run to take an 18-16 lead. Schamadan had two kills during that time. The Falcons mustered a 9-3 run to take the set 25-21.  
 
The Falcons found their offensive rhythm in the third set. They had 14 kills on a .200 hitting percentage. The Falcons gained their advantage from behind the service line. They had two aces while the Wildcats had none in the set. The Wildcats were stifled a bit offensively, making nine attack errors and hitting .143 in the third set. 
 
The fourth set score found itself in familiar places. The Falcons led 10-7 early, before going on a 11-5 run that gave them a 21-12 lead. An ace from Kyla Morgan started a 9-3 run for the Wildcats, but it wasn't enough as an attack error from the team sent the match into the deciding fifth set. 
 
Statistically, there wasn't much separation between the two teams in the fourth set. The Wildcats had 13 kills to the Falcons 12. Both teams had seven attack errors. The Falcons advantage came defensively, as they totaled three blocks to the one from the Wildcats in the fourth set. 
 
Back and forth action was prevalent in the final set, as the two teams found themselves tied at 9. The Wildcats pieced together a short 4-2 run to take a 13-11 lead. The Wildcats were a point away from ending the match, but the Falcons found a way score two consecutive points and tie the set at 14. The Wildcats were ready to end the match again, this time leading 16-15. The Falcons scored three straight points, ending the match on an ace from Paige Dawson. 
 
The Wildcats committed five attack errors and had two service errors in the final frame. The Falcons had their best hitting percentage for a set in the final set, converting 11 kills on at a .281 clip. 
 
Swart was stellar for the Wildcats on Saturday. She led the game with 20 kills on a .246 hitting percentage. The junior from Naches Valley, Wash. added 18 digs to complete the double-double. Ashley Kaufman also had a double-double for the Wildcats. Kaufman had an outstanding 20 digs while adding 10 kills to the Wildcat offense. 
 
Kyla Morgan led the team with 25 digs on the afternoon. Aihara added 17 digs to a memorable day. Julia Mellander also helped the defensive efforts with six total blocks. Diana Fa'amausili added four total blocks of her own, including one solo block. 
 
The Wildcats return to Nicholson Pavilion next weekend for two pivotal conference matches. The first happens on Thursday night when Alaska Fairbanks comes to town for a match that starts at 7 p.m.