SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Central Washington University volleyball team (19-7, 14-4 GNAC) made it to the semifinal of the West Regional in the NCAA Tournament after defeating its GNAC foe, the Simon Fraser Red Leafs (20-5, 14-4 GNAC) in a high-intensity five-set battle in the opening round of the tournament.
 
Quoting Head Coach Mario Andaya
"The GNAC was such a wild ride, with all the champions coming out of that, so it was two champions going at it. We got a coin-flip and went five sets with Simon Fraser in the regular season both times, and we kind of knew it was going to be the same thing. Us stealing that first set was nice, but we knew that was still an uphill battle against those guys. They had a great year and was a very tough opponent, so it was a good win for us."
 
How It Happened
The teams split the first four sets with CWU winning sets one (30-28) and three (25-21), while SFU won sets two  (25-20) and four (25-21) to force the fifth set. The Red Leafs threatened a repeat of the teams' last fifth set by running away early, but Central persevered to come from behind and ultimate achieve the victory to advance the Wildcats to the second round.
 
The Wildcats were led on the offensive side by Scottie Ellsworth with 19 kills, followed by Ella Bines with 15 and Kailey Willsey with 14. Ellie Marble led the service line with three aces, followed by Kayleigh-Shay Chang with two. Chang also led in setting with 32 assists. Defensively, Brooklyn Parker led with back line with 29 digs, while Hayli Tri led the front line with six blocks, followed by Ellsworth with five and Willsey with four.
 
Both teams started the match competitively with each side getting two points. Simon Fraser got the first edge and scored four straight points to take a 6-2 lead. Central fought to cut the lead, but SFU continued to apply pressure. Then, trailing 6-11, the Wildcats got four straight points to cut the lead to one. The 'Cats then got a 2-1 run to tie the game at 12-12. CWU's momentum was cut as the Red Leafs got a 6-1 run to take an 18-13 lead. The Crimson and Black battled back to cut the lead to 17-19. The teams then traded points as SFU approached set point. A service error from Central gave the Leafs set point at 24-21, but the Wildcats weren't going down easily–hitting four straight points to take a one-point lead and force extra frames. Both teams battled into extra rounds until the 'Cats had advantage at 29-28, and Corinne Westby got the set-winning kill to take set one from behind 30-28 and get the 1-0 lead.
 
The Red Leafs didn't waste any time to start the second set–scoring three quick points. The Wildcats responded with two kills from Ellsworth and Willsey, but SFU came right back with two kills of their own. The teams traded points as Simon Fraser continued to build on its lead. The Red Leafs got out to a 16-7 lead, then the 'Cats battled back with a 10-5 run to cut the lead to 16-19. The Crimson and Black fought the tie it up, but the Red Leafs kept pressure to take the second set 25-20 and tie the match a set apiece.
 
The third set began with both teams playing equally well as neither team gave an edge leading into an 8-8 tie. Central found the first edge then—scoring four straight points to take a 12-8 as SFU took a timeout. The timeout proved to play out well for the Red Leafs—going 5-3 to cut the lead to two points. CWU answered with a 6-3 run to rebuild its lead to 21-16. The teams traded points as the Crimson and Black held its lead to win set three 25-21 to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Both teams continued the trend of playing competitively—keeping the score within two points through the first 11 points. Then, the Red Leafs went and six unanswered points to take a 17-11 lead. The Wildcats started to battle back—going on a 4-2 run to cut the lead to four. Simon Fraser responded with a kill to take a 20-15 lead that forced a CWU timeout. The 'Cats battled to cut down the lead, but the Red Leafs continued to score as Nina Kovacevic hit the set-winning kill to take set four 25-21 to force the decisive set five.
 
The Red Leafs came out strong in the fifth set and opened with a 6-3 run to force Central into taking a timeout. The timeout paid off, as the Wildcats scored five unanswered points to take an 8-6 lead as Simon Fraser was forced to take a timeout. The teams traded points following the timeout, and then SFU found three points to flip the lead at 11-10, but CWU responded with three points of their own to take a 13-11 lead to force an SFU timeout. The Wildcats didn't waste any time following the timeout, with Willsey getting a quick kill to force match point, and then Natalie Lemoine-Sells hitting the ball out of play as Central took set five 15-11 and won the match 3-2.
 
Up Next
The Wildcats play tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 5, as they take on third-seeded Fresno Pacific in the regional semifinals at 4:00 p.m. from San Diego.