SEATTLE, Wash. – The Central Washington University volleyball team (8-4, 4-1 GNAC) finished off its road trip with a big win over Seattle Pacific (6-8, 1-5 GNAC), defeating the Falcons in five heavily battled sets Saturday afternoon.
 
Quoting Head Coach Mario Andaya
"I was impressed with the resiliency of this group. SPU defended and served very well which can get teams frustrated and on edge. We were both, but we kept the energy up and stabilized our emotions as the match went on. Pretty nice to get out of here with win."
 
How It Happened
The Wildcats were able to defeat the Falcons after going down 1-2 in the match and then battling back in set four and ultimately winning set five to take the match and propel the Crimson and Black to 4-1 in GNAC play.
 
Huge performances from several members of the 'Cats allowed them the victory including a team-leading 20 kills from Ella Bines, followed by Scottie Ellsworth and Corinne Westby with 14 kills each, as well as Ellie Marble, who scored 13 kills. Marble and Westby both recorded double-doubles–recording 12 and 14 digs, respectively. Bines also had a strong hitting percentage in the match, hitting .452 on 31 total attack. Ellsworth and Kailey Willsey led the team in blocks with three each, while Brooklyn Parker held down the defense with 22 digs. Addie Allen kept the offense flowing with her team-leading 32 assists, followed by Kayleigh-Shay Chang with 27. Chang also led in service aces with Willsey with one apiece.
 
The match started off with both teams trading the first couple of points. Then, SPU's offense kicked into gear and went on a nine-point run to lead 11-2. Central answered with three points, but the Falcons returned the favor–scoring three of their own. CWU got a 4-1 run to cut into the lead, but Seattle Pacific continued to build its lead back up. The Wildcats could not find an answer in the first set as the Falcons won 25-18 to take the 1-0 lead.
 
Set two began more in Central's favor–going on a 5-1 run. SPU chipped some of the lead away, but the 'Cats appeared to have more of an answer in the set–responding timely and holding the narrow lead as the set progressed. Then, with CWU leading 21-14, the Falcons got a three-point run to cut the lead to four and continued to cut it down–scoring two more in response to a Wildcat point to trail 19-22. However, the Crimson and Black were able to hold the lead while trading points to ultimately win set two 25-21 and tie the match at 1-1.
 
Central appeared to carry the momentum into the third set with a 5-2 run to open the set. The Falcons, however, flipped the script with a 6-2 run to take an 8-6 lead. The teams traded the next several points as SPU held its narrow lead. Then, the Wildcats scored three points to take a one-point lead. Both teams traded the next couple of points to bring the game to a 14-14 tie. The 'Cats then got another three points to make it 17-14. SPU answered with a 5-1 run to take a one-point lead. Central would answer with a point, but Seattle Pacific responded with five-straight points to force set point at 24-19. One more kill from Marble was all CWU could muster before Megan Omlid shut the door on set three, as the Falcons won 25-20 to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Set four began very competitively as neither team gave an edge to the other. The Wildcats got the first break–scoring three points to take an 11-7 lead. SPU answered with two points and continued to keep the score within a couple of points as the set progressed. Then, with an 18-17 lead, the 'Cats found a rhythm and went on a 4-1 run to make it 22-18, followed by both teams going into a point trading battle as the Crimson and Black held the lead–winning the set 25-21 off a Marble kill to force the decisive set five.
 
The Wildcats did not waste any time to start the fifth set–going on a 4-1 run. SPU answered with a pair of points to cut the lead to one before the teams traded a point each. Then, Central got a pair of points of their own to make it a 7-4 lead. Seattle Pacific answered with a point but was responded to with another two points for the 'Cats to make it 9-5. The Falcons returned the favor with two more points, but CWU doubled the Falcons' points with four more points to make it 13-7. SPU got one more point, then the Crimson and Black found their moment to strike and scored the final two points off kills from Marble and Willsey to complete the comeback 15-8 and the match 3-2.
 
Up Next
The Wildcats return home for two matches starting on Thursday, Oct 9, as they take on Western Oregon at Nicholson Arena at 7:00 p.m.