ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University volleyball team performed well in its home opener against Seattle Pacific. The Wildcats grounded the Falcons 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-12) on Thursday night. 
 
As a team, the Wildcats (7-4, 2-1) outplayed the Falcons (3-8, 0-3) in a handful of categories. Most notably, the Wildcats had 48 kills to the Falcon's 28. The team also defended well, scooping up 61 digs while holding the Falcons to .117 hitting percentage. The Wildcat offense was rolling as they racked up 46 assists and hit at a .231 clip. 
 
"We served and passed well, which helped us control a lot of the rallies," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "Makala [Swart] and Ashley [Kaufman] did a very good job working through serve receive."
 
The Wildcats announced their presence in front of their home crowd on Thursday night. A kill from Bridgette Webb started a 4-0 run that was followed by a short 3-0 from the Falcons. Diana Fa'amausili smashed home a kill that started another 6-0 run. Julia Mellander spiked the kill that moved the score 10-3 in favor of the Wildcats. 
 
The two teams traded points until the Wildcats led 14-8. A service error from the Wildcats opened the door for the Falcons to go on a short 3-0 run. The score was 14-11 when the Wildcats went on another 6-2 run. The run featured kills from Fa'amausili, Mellander, Makala Swart. The run also saw a service ace from Ashley Kaufman. The Wildcats led the set 20-13. 
 
The Falcons answered with a 6-2 run of their own, cutting the Wildcat lead to 22-19. Kills from Webb and Kaufman put with the Wildcats at set point. An attack error from the Falcons gave the Wildcats a 25-20 set win. 
 
The second set opened with another nice run from the Wildcats that gave them an early 5-2 lead. A 7-2 run followed from the Falcons as they took the lead 9-7 pm a Gabby Oddo kill. The middle portion of the set belonged to the Wildcats. It was a 9-2 run that helped the Wildcats blow by the Falcons to take a 16-11 set lead. During the run, Fa'amausili, Kaufman and Swart had two kills each. 
 
The two teams went on to trade points before the score landed at 21-16 in favor of the Wildcats. The Falcons would close the gap again, this time using a 5-2 the Wildcat lead to just two points at 23-21. Two kills from Fa'amausili ended the set, giving the Wildcats the 25-22 set win and helped them go up 2-0 on the match. 
 
"SPU got their offense going, but the team remained poised and kept working to earn points," Coach Andaya added "Gaby [Aihara] ran a balanced offense, and our middles stayed very active."
 
The third set belonged to the Wildcats after back and forth action that landed the set at a 7-7 tie. An 18-5 Wildcat run followed. The run opened with the Wildcats benefiting from four consecutive errors from the Falcons. Webb's experience helped the Wildcats slam the door on the Falcons. During the run, Webb had five kills including the final point of the set and match as the Wildcats owned the third set 25-12 and the match 3-0.  
 
Swart and Fa'amausili tied for a game-high 11 kills. Swart was the only Wildcat to record a double-double. She added 10 digs to her night's production. Fa'amausili was ultra-efficient, hitting at a .563 clip. Another efficient outing came from Webb who had nine kills on a game-high .571 hitting percentage. Mellander and Kaufman chipped in eight kills of their own. Gabrielle Aihara had an excellent night, picking up 44 assists in the home opener. 
 
Defensively, the Wildcats had a strong night. Fa'amausili and Mellander led the team with three assisted blocks. Sydney Remsberg and Kaufman tied for a team high 12 digs. Kyla Morgan added eight digs to the team's defensive efforts. 
 
The Wildcats are in action this Saturday as the team hosts Saint Martin's 12 p.m. PT.  
 
"The atmosphere was great, and it was nice to play in front of the home crowd," Coach Andaya said.