Oct. 8, 2004
Box Score
ARCATA, Calif. - Middle blocker Kristy Carstensen (Sr., Puyallup) had 21 kills and libero Brianna Murray (Sr., Everett/Cascade) 19 digs, both match highs, as Western Washington University swept Humboldt State University, 30-27, 30-16, 30-25, on Thursday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match at East Gymnasium.
The Vikings, who remained No.20 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25, improved to 11-4 overall and remained second in the GNAC standings at 7-1.
Humboldt State fell to 2-13 overall and 1-7 in league play. The Lumberjacks were led by the 15 kills and 13 digs of Jessica Murray.
Carstensen had just two errors in 42 attempts for a .452 attack percentage. Teammate Meghan Evoy (Sr., Olympia/Capital) added 10 kills, upping her four-year career total to 1,215. She needs just 14 more to break the school record of 1,228 set by Gretchen Haakenson from 1990 to 1993.
"I was really pleased with how solid we played," said Western coach Diane Flick. "I thought we controlled the net very well, which is something we've been working on this week."
"Kristy did a great job. When we needed to go to her for a sideout, she was there and did it with extremely smart and steady play."
Outside hitter Jamie Petersen (Jr., Kent/Kentwood) had nine kills and 14 digs for the Vikings, and Courtney Schneider (Fr., Snohomish) contributed 17 digs.
Western, which served six aces, had a hitting percentage of .211 to Humboldt State's .133.
The first game had five lead changes and nine ties, Carstensen closing it out with two kills after Humboldt State had gotten within one, 28-27. Murray served the first nine points of game two, the Lumberjacks never got closer than seven after that.
In the third game, Western scored six of the last eight points, Carstensen ending the match point with a kill.
The Vikings are 61-1 in GNAC contests, including one streak of 57 wins, the fourth longest conference string in NCAA II history. Western is at Western Oregon University on Saturday (7 p.m.) for a GNAC counter.
