SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The Central Washington volleyball team (2-2) picked up their first wins of the season in two hard hitting matches. The Wildcats first defeated the ninth-ranked team in the nation and the defending west region champions Cal State LA 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-18) and then maintained their momentum with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-19) win over 18^th-ranked Regis. The Wildcats will look to continue this momentum from beating these two highly ranked teams next weekend at the Up North Preseason Tournament, starting Friday, September 8^th from Duluth, Minnesota.  
 
THOUGHTS FROM COACH ANDAYA
 
Head Coach Mario Andaya was all positivity after the two great matches today, saying: "Each day, each match we got better. We played long stretches of very good volleyball today and it ended with two wins. Ashley and Hannah were as good as I've seen them in serve receive. We found more offense each day so that hopefully continues to grow. Everyone played hard, got better, and grinded out two tough matches". 
 
GAME 1
 
In the first match of the day, the offense was led by Kylie Thorne with 19 kills, and Ashley Kaufman with 13 of her own, as well as four aces, nine digs, and two blocks. Tia Andaya kept the ball moving with 36 assists for the offense. Emma Daoud-Hebert continued the block party of the century with six blocks in the match, with Andaya joining in with four of her own. Leading the 'Cats in digs was Hannah Stires with a team high 12. 
 
SET 1
 
The first set didn't start particularly well for the Wildcats, as the found themselves behind 5-9 early in the match. Trailing 7-13, a kill by Scottie Ellsworth started a massive run for the Cats, with aces by Kaufman and Stires paired with two kills each by Thorne and Morgan Halady drove the Wildcats to a 16-14 lead and a 9-2 run. The Cats rolled from there eventually shutting the door on the Golden Eagles 25-17, winning the first set of the contest. 
 
SET 2
 
The second set was a slow start for the Wildcats, with the Golden Eagles taking a 7-4 lead. Even with a few Golden Eagle errors, and three kills by Ashley Kaufman, the Wildcats were still down 11-12. The game went back and forth, with the 'Cats never quitting, tying things up on five different occasions. The Wildcats found themselves trailing 19-22, when back-to-back kills brought the Cats within one point. The teams continued to trade points back and forth until the Golden Eagles closed the set out at 25-23. 
 
SET 3
 
The Wildcats again found themselves trailing early 3-7, but a kill and a big block by Daoud-Hebert brought the score to 8-9. The Golden Eagles would tack on three kills and CWU's attack errors helped the one-point deficit turned into five 8-13 with back to back kills, followed by a block. The senior Kaufman wouldn't let the offense five up with three straight kills to take the game to 13-16. The Golden Eagles would rally with three more points putting CWU down 13-19. The 'Cats rallied back big, with four kills by Thorne and a pair by Andaya over the course of an 11-4 run that saw Ellsworth nail two kills to close out the third set for the Wildcats at 25-23.
 
SET 4
 
The Golden Eagles would jump out to an early 4-8 lead making the start difficult for the 'Cats. The crimson and black didn't give up going on a six-point run guided by Kaufman dominating the service game, with two aces, to go with two kills from Ellsworth generating a 10-8 lead. Thorne and Kaufman each provided two pivotal kills, maintaining the lead until 20-15. A trio of errors by Golden Eagles and a pair of kills would see the Wildcats end the match on a decisive 7-3 run giving the 'Cats their first win of the 2023 season.
 
GAME 2
 
The Wildcats dominated across the board, totaling 32 kills, six aces, nine block, 28 assists, and 32 digs in the three sets. Thorne led the team with 12 kills, followed by Kaufman with nine kills, as well as two aces of her own. Andaya posted 24 assists on the offensive end as well.  Daoud-Hebert and Stires again held things down on the defensive end, with Daoud-Hebert throwing down seven blocks to lead the team, while Stires managed 13 digs. 
 
SET 1
 
The first set was a seesaw bout the entire way. Regis struck first jumping to a quick 1-3, but three kills by CWU would tie the game at four apiece. The teams wound back up at 12 apiece a little later with two kills each by Kaufman and Thorne highlighted the battle, but the Rangers pulled right back out in front 12-15. The Wildcats would put together their own three-point run to again tie things up at 15. A few errors by the Rangers would tie the game once again, this time at 21 all. From here they were able to rally behind two kills by Ellsworth, and three from Thorne to close the set at 25-23.
 
SET 2
 
The Cats cruised in set two, jumping out to a 6-1 lead after two aces by Kaufman. After a six-point run by CWU, guided by ace by Shaunessy Fisk, and two kills by Kaufman, the cats led 12-6. The Rangers wouldn't go away that easy bringing the match to six points at 15-9. The Wildcats easily finished out the set at 25-12 behind blocks by Daoud-Hebert and Thorne.
 
SET 3
 
Daoud-Hebert got things rolling in the third set with a block, while Fisk again aced the Rangers to bring the 'Cats to a 6-6 deadlock. Kaufman had two kills to give the Wildcats a 10-6 lead. The block party waged on, with Daoud-Hebert and Halady each getting blocks to maintain the CWU lead at 15-10. The Cats saw their lead cut to 17-15, but then won six of the next seven points with a pair of kills from Andaya and an ace from Thorne to take a commanding 23-16 lead. The Wildcats finished in style with a Kaufman kill giving them a final score of 25-19 and the 3-0 victory.
 
A LOOK AHEAD
 
The Wildcats will look to maintain their momentum as they head to the midwest for more stiff competition. The crimson and black will look to take over the land of 10,000 lakes next weekend at the Up North Preseason Tournament, starting on Friday, September 8th at 10 a.m. against Northern Michigan in Duluth, Minnesota.