LOS ANGELES – The No. 25-ranked Central Washington volleyball team played its second game of the West Region Showcase Thursday night against the host school in No. 23 Cal State Los Angeles. The Wildcats came back from a 2-1 overall deficit to win the match 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-18, 15-13).
 
With both squads ranked in the top-25 nationally in Division II, the game was going to be a battle from start to finish. The Wildcats (4-2) ended the Golden Eagles (2-4) 2018 season with a 3-2 match win in the first round of the NCAA West Regional. The rematch Thursday night had the same outcome in favor of the Wildcats.
 
"To win in that fashion is intense, and always rewarding. The team did a really good job of getting through tough times and staying the course," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "Our defense stepped up, but we found offense and that was key."
 
A big help in the Wildcats five-set win was a .244 hitting percentage for the night, while the defense limited to Golden Eagles to just .184 hitting. The Golden Eagles had more kills, 65-61, but 29 errors to the Wildcats 18 made up the difference.
 
The first set was back-and-forth as both squads had early serving errors that never allowed the other to lead by more than two points early on. It was not until the midway point that the Golden Eagles used a quick scoring surge to lead 12-9.
 
Ashley Kaufman looked to keep things close for CWU as a kill from the true freshman cut the Cal State LA lead to two, 12-10. The home responded going on a 4-0 run to grab its largest lead of the set, 16-10. Bridgette Webb ended the run with a kill to keep the Wildcats within striking distance.
 
The Golden Eagles kept in front of the Wildcats by 4-5 points going late into the set and found themselves in front 22-16 late. The Wildcats answered with a 7-1 surge to claw their way back into the game and tie the first set at 23-all.
 
A pair of service aces from Makala Swart paired with an attack error from Cal State LA and a solo block by Julia Mellander got the Wildcats back in within two. The Golden Eagles added a point before a kill from Kaufman and another error by the home team tied the first set.
 
Cal State LA got the upper hand after a kill and service ace closed out the opening set and put CWU down 1-0 overall to start. The Wildcats won the hitting battle in the first set, .167-.150 and had three less errors, 4-7, but seven aces by the Golden Eagles helped them take the set.
 
The start of set No. 2 was no different than the first as the two teams traded points right out the gate and were locked in a 4-3 battled early with CWU in front. With the match tied at 2-2, the Wildcats then went on a 6-1 run to get out 8-3 on the Golden Eagles.
 
Back-to-back errors by Cal State LA got the run started but it was Webb who did the most damage as she put down three straight kills off assists from Gabrielle Aihara to give the Wildcats control early.
 
Both Webb and Kaufman were sparks for the CWU offense in the second set as they combined for 13 of the team's 17 kills. Kaufman had seven to lead the way while Webb was right behind her with six.
 
The dynamic play of the Webb and Kaufman along with the high energy of the Wildcats as a unit was contagious as the squad jumped out a 20-10 lead over the Golden Eagles in the second set.
 
Cal State LA looked to make a push late outscoring CWU 10-5 but a fast start by CWU helped secure the 25-20 set two win and tied the match at 1-1.
 
The Golden Eagles controlled the majority of the third set. They only tied with the Wildcats once, early on at 1-1, but led the rest of the way forward for the set. The home team jumped out to a 12-8 lead before a block by Mellander and Kaufman kept CWU within three.
 
Cal State LA responded with a 9-1 scoring run to extend its third set lead to 21-10. CWU got some help from Webb and Lexi Schamadan who each added a pair of kills late which helped the team rally but it was not enough as the Golden Eagles took set No. 3, 25-20.
 
Trailing 2-1, the Wildcats outscored the Golden Eagles 40-31 the rest of the way. The team hit .267 in the fourth set and .348 in the fifth set to help them rally from the deficit and seal the road win.
 
The fourth set started out perfectly for the Wildcats as they ripped out seven straight points and outscored the Golden Eagles 10-1 early on to lead by nine. The fast pace on offense complimented by mistakes from the Golden Eagles gave the Wildcats all the momentum early on.
 
Cal State LA added back-to-back points to cut the score to 10-3, but another surge of points kept CWU in front. A kill from Diana Fa'amausili sparked a 4-1 run that put the Wildcats in front 14-4 and gave them their first double figure lead of the set.
 
Both teams traded points but a rally from the Golden Eagles helped them chip away at the Wildcats lead for a brief moment. With the lead at 18-10 thanks to another kill from Fa'amausili, CWU had the momentum but a final 5-2 scoring burst cut the lead to 20-15.
 
The rally was short lived as CWU outscored Cal State LA 5-3 in the final moments. Three attack errors from the home team to go along with kills from Webb and Kaufman helped the Wildcats take the fourth set 25-18 and tie the match at 2-all.
 
Just like in last year's NCAA West Regional, this heavyweight fight was going to need all five sets to determine a winner. Like both teams did for much of the night, it was a back-and-forth affair the whole way.
 
The Golden Eagles jumped out 5-3 and a couple quick kills gave them a 7-4 edge in short time. Unphased, the Wildcats were calm and collective as a service error by the home team and a kill from Swart cut the score to 7-6.
 
Cal State LA answered with another quick point to get to eight points first. After the two squads switched sides on the court, so did the momentum of the set. The Golden Eagles managed to get up three, 10-7, but then the CWU rally started.
 
A 5-1 run from the Wildcats sparked by Swart gave them a 12-11 lead late in the set. Swart was superb in that time accounting for three of the five points, all of which that came on kills. The Golden Eagles tied the match at 12-12, but managed just one point after that.
 
Kaufman capped off the 5-1 run to give CWU its first lead of the fifth set and it was only fitting that she and Webb closed out the set. The duo teamed up for a block that gave CWU a 14-13 lead, and then Webb played a spot-on pass to Kaufman for the match point kill that ended the set at 15-13.
 
"The fifth set played out the way the entire match went," Coach Andaya stated. "Back and forth with neither team giving in. It's cool to end up on the winning end for sure."
 
Four Wildcats ended with double-digit kills led by Webb with 15. She finished the night with a game-high .467 hitting percentage to go along with four block assists and a solo block. Kaufman had a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs. Both Swart and Fa'amausili finished with 12 kils, respectively. Swart also had a double-double as she racked up 14 digs and had two service aces.
 
Airhara once again distributed the ball well handing out 49 assists to lead all players. She also put up two service aces for CWU and tallied 12 digs for a double-double performance. Defensively, Kyla Morgan was all over the floor in the win with a game-high 33 digs to go along with six assists to help out on offense. Mellander was a factor on the front row contributing four block assists and a solo block. She contributed on offense as well with five kills.
 
"Kyla [Morgan] was exceptional and kept giving us opportunities to score. Bridgette [Webb] was a force and just stayed active," Coach Andaya added. "Ashley [Kaufman] came up big for us and played like a veteran. Pretty cool win."
 
The Wildcats have just one game on tap tomorrow (Friday) for the West Region Showcase. They take on Azusa Pacific with the first serve set for 2:30 p.m. PT