DULUTH, Minn. – The Central Washington Wildcat volleyball team (4-2) proved today they're the superior Wildcat and that 'Cats rule and dog's drool with matching 3-0 sweeps over Northern Michigan (1-6) and seventh-ranked Minnesota-Duluth (5-1) to start the Up North Preseason Tournament. 

STRAIGHT FROM COACH ANDAYA

"The team played really well in all facets of the game. We served well and played good defense. The team showed good poise in tough moments and we were able to find kills consistently. UMD has a lot of weapons so I really like how we responded after some of their runs and how we kept competing. Kylie and Tia had a lot of big moments for us against UMD. Ashley and Scottie came up big offensively, and Emma and Hannah led the charge on defense for us against NMU."
 
VS. NMU
 
SET 1
 
Both sides kept things close to begin with as neither team clawed away from the other by more than three points. CWU found themselves down 5-7 after a service ace by the green and gold which prompted a 6-2 run by the crimson and black with five of those points being kills and the other being a service ace by Ashley Kaufman, putting CWU up 11-9. Both teams kept pace with each other until a kill by Emma Daoud-Hebert and an attack error by NMU saw the crimson and black go up 17-14 helping CWU sail to the 25-19 set one victory. 
 
SET 2
 
Both teams tied at one apiece after a CWU service error, but the crimson and black wouldn't have it going on an 8-2 run with four kills in the process putting CWU up 9-3. The crimson and black wouldn't let up from there as NMU wouldn't score consecutive points until their ninth and tenth points, but by then CWU was up 22-10. CWU would cruise to the 25-12 set two victory. 
 
SET 3
 
The crimson and black fell behind on the first point after a service error, but immediately tied the game from a kill by Kylie Thorne and never failed to lead from there. NMU would net three consecutive points to pull the game to 14-9 in favor of CWU, but the Cats from the Pacific Northwest wouldn't have it pulling away 23-14 before two more points from NMU but kills from Scottie Ellsworth and Ellie Marble helped CWU sweep the match with a 25-17 set three score.
 
FROM THE BOX SCORE
 
Central Washington saw Kaufman and Ellsworth post 11 kills each while Daoud-Hebert had six in the match. Four different crimson and black Wildcats hit for over .500 percent with Ellsworth hitting a .688 percentage. Tia Andaya led CWU with 30 assists and tacked on four kills during the match. CWU had 16 blocks in the match with Daoud-Hebert leading the block party with seven, two coming solo. Hannah Stires and Thorne led CWU in digs with 15 and eight each while Andaya knew where to serve the ball counting for half the Wildcats service aces with three in the match.
 
VS. #7 UMD
 
SET 1
 
The Wildcats jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after a service ace by Andaya and a kill by Ellsworth, but the seventh-ranked team in the country can't be put down that easy going on a 6-1 run taking the 3-6 lead. Just like how UMD wasn't going to go down that easy, the Wildcats weren't either going on a quick 3-0 run to tie the game at six points apiece. The 'Dawgs would then go on their own 3-0 run and would respond everytime the Wildcats nabbed a point making it a 10-13 game in favor of UMD. The 'Cats got their scratch back going on an 11-3 run guided by two kills from Andaya and Thorne each and three service aces by Shaunessy Fisk, putting CWU up 21-16. UMD would get two more points but a service ace by Marble capped the CWU set one victory 25-18. 
 
SET 2
 
The Wildcats fell behind quickly in set two 2-5 with their two points coming via service errors from UMD. Another service ace by Fisk gave CWU their first point that wasn't an error by UMD making it 4-5 UMD. The 'Cats woke up and battled their way to a 7-8 score in favor of UMD, but took control from there going on a 12-4 run led by three kills from Andaya. The Bulldogs had a quick 4-2 run to make it 20-16 in favor of CWU, but the 'Cats took care of business with an Ellsworth kill to cap set two 25-18. 
 
SET 3
 
The battle between dogs and cats ensued with the teams tying seven times before either team reached 10 points in the set. Knotted up at eight apiece after a kill by Thorne was the jumpstart the Wildcats needed to go on a 15-6 run to take the 23-14 lead. The Bulldogs would nab thre more points but a service error by UMD sealed their first loss of the season and arguable the Wildcats biggest win of the season thus far with a 25-17 set three score.
 
FROM THE BOX SCORE
 
Thorne and Ellsworth reached double-digits in kills with 11 and 10 to lead CWU, while Andaya added eight of her own. Andaya again led CWU in assists with 27 in the match. Andaya and Fisk had the magic touch with their serving with each tossing up four aces out of the Wildcats 10 in the match. The crimson and black were busy along the net stuffing 14 blocks, led by Andaya with six while Ellsworth added on four. Kaufman and Stires were busy in the back row with both reaching double digits in digs with 11 and 10, respectively.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Wildcats will have a whole day with an opportunity to further prove 'Cats rule and dogs drool tomorrow starting with a matchup against the fifth-ranked St. Cloud State Huskies (7-0) at 10:00 a.m. and will conclude with a showdown against the Michigan Tech Huskies (1-5) at 3:00 p.m.