NAMPA, Idaho. - The winning streak continues for the Central Washington University Wildcat volleyball team (7-4, 5-0 GNAC) as they win their fifth straight by sweeping the Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks (5-8, 2-3 GNAC) on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Quoting Head Coach Mario Andaya  
"The team stayed in the moment and stayed aggressive on offense. We needed kills and our setters K-Shay and Lacy put us in good positions to score. NNU put some pressure on us late with good defense and serving but we stayed the course, and it worked out. We had a lot of big contributors on offense so that is always nice to see."  

How It Happened  
The 'Cats were able to defeat the Nighthawks in three sets by scores of 25-12, 25-18, and 25-23. The Wildcats were led in scoring by Marianna Payne, who logged 11 kills, and Emma Daoud-Hebert, whose .438 hitting percentage put her season stats at .489 overall percentage. Morgan Halady led the team in blocks with 4.5. Strong defensive plays from Hannah Stires (18 digs) and Ellie Marble (10 digs) allowed the offense to keep producing chances. Kayleigh-Shay Chang (22 assists) and Lacy Cox (18 assists) kept the offense rolling with their setting.  

The Nighthawks started the first set by scoring three points to take a 3-0 lead, but the 'Cats answered with nine-straight points to lead 9-3. Central kept the pressure on, going on a 4-1 run to lead 13-4. NNU attempted to chip away at the lead, but the margin was too much as a kill from Scottie Ellsworth closed it out with the Crimson and Black winning 25-12  

Set two started more evenly with both teams scoring back and forth to tie the set at 4-4. CWU then caught a stride scoring five straight to lead 9-4. The Nighthawks answered with three points to trail by two. However, Central kept the lead and built on it, going on a 9-5 run to make the score 18-12. NNU fought to keep the score close, but the Wildcat's momentum could not be stopped and an attack error by Abby Black closed the Nighthawk's chances with the 'Cats winning 25-18  

Central started set three off strong, going on a 4-1 run before NNU tied it back up, scoring three straight to tie at 4-4. The set saw a neck-and-neck battle as the two teams traded points to tie several times. CWU would score a point or two and the Nighthawks answered to tie it back up. The Wildcats caught a chance to build a two-point lead throughout the middle set, but NNU remained behind them. The Nighthawks were able to score a few points and tied the set at 18, then went on a 4-2 run to lead 22-20. The 'Cats answered with four straight points to force match point. NNU scored a point to bring the score within one, but a quick kill from Daoud-Hebert sealed the sweeping win for the Crimson and Black 25-23.  

Up Next  
The Wildcats head to The Last Frontier to take on the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks on Thursday, Oct. 10 at noon PDT.