LACEY, Wash. - Ellie Marble led the #20 Wildcats with 13 kills as the Central Washington University volleyball team avoided a late Saint Martin's push to earn a four-set victory over the Saints Thursday evening (25-17, 25-19, 21-25, 25-23).
 
NOTABLE STATS
Along with Marble's 13 kills, Kylie Thorne tallied 12 kills with four digs. Tia Andaya fell just one kill short of a triple-double, recording nine kills, 32 assists (team-high), and 11 digs. Kate Stidham added 12 assists.
 
Morgan Halady led the team with six blocks, recording three kills too. Hannah Stires registered a team-leading 18 digs. The CWU defense held Saint Martin's to a .155 attacking percentage.
 
QUOTING HEAD COACH MARIO ANDAYA
"It was a hard-fought match and we're excited we came out on top. We had a nice rhythm going early on offense, but our serving was a big key tonight. SMU started to defend better and convert so we had to thrive defensively as well to keep pace. I thought Kate and Tia distributed well and our attackers stayed aggressive until the end to seal this one."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tied at 7-7 in the first set, the Wildcats began to open a lead. Scottie Ellsworth's second kill of the night pushed her to the 200-kill milestone on the season. The lead would continue to slowly grow, forcing a SMU timeout at 19-14.
 
Out of the timeout, Andaya setup back-to-back kills for Thorne and Ellsworth, pushing the score to 21-14. A Halady kill would later end the first frame 25-17.
 
With Stires at the service line, the Wildcats took a quick 5-1 in the second set. Despite a little run from SMU, Emma Daoud-Hebert and Thorne would combine for a pair of kills as the Saints took their first timeout of the set with the Wildcats up 14-8.
 
The lead hovered around six points until 19-13, when the 'Cats would take a five-point run to get to set point. But, the Saints responded with six-straight of their own to force a CWU timeout at 24-19. Ellsworth stopped the SMU run, closing out the second set 25-19.
 
The Wildcats won the race to 10 points in the third set after a set error on SMU made it 10-6 in favor of the Crimson and Black. The Saints climbed back and eventually tied it up at 13-13. The momentum would continue for Saint Martin's as the Wildcats found themselves down four at 17-21. A late CWU push was too little, too late, as Saint Martin's took the third frame 21-25.
 
Early in the fourth set, the teams were tied at three apiece. Then, the 'Cats got hot, taking ten of the next 12 points to burn both SMU timeouts and take a 13-5 lead. Up 19-7, the Saints would show some more fight, taking seven straight to make the score 19-14.
 
An Ellsworth kill finally got the Wildcats up to 20 points. At 24-17, a Kaufman game-winning attack was reversed by a Saint Martin's challenge. The Saints put the Wildcats on the ropes bringing the score to 24-23 before a Thorne kill clinched the set and game 25-23.
 
UP NEXT
The #20 Wildcats (14-6, 8-4 GNAC) will head to Monmouth, Ore. to face Western Oregon (8-11, 2-9 GNAC) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.