BILLINGS, Mont. – The Central Washington University volleyball team (7-4, 3-1 GNAC) started its first road trip in GNAC play with a big sweep over Montana State Billings (1-9, 0-5 GNAC) Thursday evening in Billings, Mont.
 
Quoting Head Coach Mario Andaya
"We were able to get kills and serve tough. The setters did a nice job of putting us in position to score and our hitters stayed aggressive. Good win in a tough place to play."
 
How It Happened
The Wildcats performed in dominating fashion–defeating the 'Jackets in three sets by scores of 25-12, 25-14, and 25-11, respectively. The Central offense exploded in the match, recording an overall .538 hitting percentage, in contrast to MSUB's .051 percentage.
 
Corinne Westby led the offense with 12 kills, followed by Scottie Ellsworth with 10 kills. Ellsworth also led at the net with four total blocks, while Brooklyn Parker led the defense with 15 digs, right in front of Ellie Marble, who had 14 digs. The 'Cats showed up on the service line–recording eight total aces led by Kayleigh-Shay Chang with three. Chang also led in assists with 25 total.
 
The Wildcats' offense was clicking from the start, as they opened the match with nine unanswered points to take an early commanding lead. The Yellowjackets got a point off a service error from Chang, but Central continued its dominance with four more points. MSUB began to find some rhythm but could only counter single points as the teams traded points and CWU held its convincing lead. The 'Jackets would cut the lead to eight points at 12-20, but the Crimson and Black proceeded to shut the door with five straight points to win set one 25-12.
 
The second set showed a little more competition early on with both teams getting on the board as CWU led 5-2. However, the 'Cats turned it up–scoring five more points to make it a 10-2 game. The Yellowjackets then responded with a 6-2 run to make it a four-point game. As the momentum temporarily shifted in favor of MSUB, Central reclaimed it with a 6-2 run of its own to make it 18-10. The Yellowjackets attempted to chip away at the lead, but the Wildcats appeared poised to hang onto the lead as they closed it out with a kill from Kaitlyn Leaverton to take set two 25-14.
 
Montana State Billings came out quickly in the third set with a 2-1 run to take an early lead. CWU answered with four points to make it a 5-2 game, but the 'Jackets answered with two more to keep the game close. The 'Cats found a stride and went on a 5-1 run to build a more-comforting lead. Central's rhythm continued to roll as it built its lead to 19-9. The Crimson and Black appeared to have the game in hand as they entered match point at 24-10. Jordin Taulua would get a kill for MSUB, but Westby had the last laugh, as she recorded the final kill to win the set 25-11 and finalize the sweep of the Yellowjackets.
 
Up Next
The 'Cats return to the Pacific Northwest on Saturday to take on Seattle Pacific University. First serve from the Royal Brougham Pavilion is set for 2:00 p.m.