LACEY, Wash.—The Central Washington volleyball team picked up their first sweep on the road as they defeated the Saints from Saint Martin's in straight sets.
A .278 team hitting percentage behind
Ashley Kaufmans 13 kills,
Tia Andaya and
Sydney Remsbergs 16 assists each, and
Shaunessy Fisks 9 digs propelled the 'Cats to their biggest win on the road this season.
"I loved our resiliency tonight. SMU played great and we weathered a lot of storms. Our serving and passing stabilized throughout and our pin attacker played smart but aggressive all night. This was a gutsy win against a high energy opponent." Said CWU Head Coach
Mario Andaya.
A rocky start and a pair of errors by the 'Cats allowed the Saints to take the first lead of the match, 3-1.
A service ace from
Shaunessy Fisk provided the 'Cats equalizer at 3-3, but both teams began to trade points until a kill from
Kylee Yamashita gave the 'Cats a 14-13 lead.
The Saints ran off on a four-point scoring run, but the 'Cats answered and with a kill by
Marianna Payne and an error by the Saints, the 'Cats were within one. The Saints led 17-18.
The Saints ran off to a two-point lead at 23-21, but four straight points for the 'Cats by way of two Saints errors and a kill and service ace from
Ashley Kaufman gave the 'Cats the opening set 25-23.
In set two, a similar story developed as the 'Cats jumped to a 3-1 lead, but quickly found themselves behind 4-7 on a run by the Saints.
Kylie Thorne and
Marianna Payne found a pair of kills alongside a service ace from
Kayla Skipworth and the 'Cats were back in front 10-8.
The Saints had found a groove and the grudge match ensued. A series of errors by both sides ended on a kill by
Kylie Thorne and the 'Cats found themselves ahead, 21-19.
The Saints offense clicked, and they ran up a three-point run to put themselves on the edge of the set 23-4.
A few more errors by both sides held the Saints in front, 26-25.
Tia Andaya landed the equalizer, then
Ashley Kaufman went back-to-back to close out the second set in favor of the 'Cats, 28-26.
Regardless of falling behind 2-0 in straight sets, the Saints wouldn't quit and came out swinging. The third set was a deadlock until a three-point run by the 'Cats by way of errors gave Central the 14-12 lead.
Marianna Payne began to heat up with a trio of kills, and
Laynie Erickson landed one of her own and the 'Cats were out in front, 19-15.
Not going down without a fight, the Saints put together a 5-1 run and brought about an equalizer at 20-20.
The Saints made a series of errors, and a pair of kills by
Tia Andaya had the 'Cats in the drivers seat. A service error by the Saints didn't provide the dramatic ending, but the 'Cats finally picked up their first sweep on the road taking the final set and match, 25-22.
