ELLENSBURG, Wash.—The No. 25 Central Washington volleyball team held off the Nighthawks from Northwest Nazarene in an exciting five set match. With tonight's win, the Wildcats remain undefeated at home, and will travel to Alaska with three-straight wins under their belts. 

THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH MARIO ANDAYA
"I loved how we endured tonight. We knew they were going to dig a lot of balls and their setter did a great job of getting their offense going. We had to solve a few things on our side of the net, and we were able to do so at critical times so I was really proud of the team in that sense. It was a big win against a good team so we're proud to walk away with this one."

RECORD SETTING NIGHT
After almost a week since their last match, the Wildcats were off to a slow start. It wasn't enough to stop them as Tia Andaya put up 14 kills, 21 assists, and 17 digs marking her fifth triple-double. Andaya has now tied Kaitlyn Tuholski (Northwest Nazarene, 2011) for the GNAC single season record for triple doubles. She is now the nationwide DII leader in triple doubles this season.

The Wildcats found themselves trailing early as the Nighthawks jumped out to 7-3 lead. Four straight points for the Wildcats capped off with back-to-back kills from Tia Andaya and Marianna Payne brought about the equalizer at 7-7.

It was a close battle throughout the first set, the Nighthawks eventually brought about set point in their favor, 24-21. Back-to-back kills by Marianna Payne helped the 'Cats battle to set point, 25-24.
It was an attack error that ended the first set in favor of the Nighthawks, 28-26.

In the second set, the Wildcats began to gain momentum as they jumped to a quick 3-0 lead. An attack error by the Wildcats brought the Nighthawks back within one, 12-11. Natalie Sullivan gave the Nighthawks their final kill in set two. Marianna Payne landed a kill following back-to-back service aces by Hannah Stires giving the 'Cats set two, 25-16.

As Momentum for both sides continued in set three, the Wildcats and Nighthawks found themselves knotted up at 10-10, 17-17, 18-18, and 20-20. Marianna Payne and Tia Andaya provided the breakaway kills, but it was Sydney Remsberg with a service ace verified by video review that gave the 'Cats set three.

Set four was all in favor of the Nighthawks. The Wildcats found themselves in the biggest deficit of the night trailing 16-5. The Nighthawks wound up taking the set, 25-14.

As the pressure crept in, the confidence grew. Marianna Payne landed a huge kill giving the 'Cats an early 4-0 lead. The Nighthawks fought back, but the 'Cats kept them at bay. Emma Daoud-Hebert landed a big kill, ruining the Nighthawks momentum and bringing it to 9-6 in favor of the 'Cats.

After an equalizer at 12-12 it was Ashley Kaufman who landed a kill to break it open in favor of the 'Cats. Laynie Erickson landed her third kill of the night to send the 'Cats to match point, and Tia Andaya brought home the final kill to close it out. The 'Cats won the final set and the match, 15-13.