Sept. 18, 2004
Box Score
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Western Washington University's 57-match Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the longest active conference winning streak in NCAA Division II, came to an end Saturday, as the Vikings were swept by Central Washington University, 30-24, 30-18, 30-23 at Nicholson Pavilion.
The loss drops the Vikings, No.16 in this week's AVCA/NCAA Division II Top 25, to 7-4 overall, 3-1 in the GNAC. It was the first-ever GNAC loss for Western, which had won the conference championship with three consecutive 18-0 records since the league was formed in 2001.
The winning streak halts the fourth-longest such run in NCAA II history.
"It's nice to have the monkey off our back," said Western coach Diane Flick. "Quite frankly, we played a team that just outplayed us tonight. Right from the start, we came out tentative, and they came out aggressive. That's a bad combination."
Central, which has won 16 straight matches dating back to late last season, is 11-0 overall and 3-0 in the GNAC. LeAnne McGahuey led the Wildcats with 15 kills and LaQue Branch added 14.
A crowd of 1,130 saw the match, many of them Central freshman who came as part of orientation festivities.
The Vikings had a 13-12 lead in the opening game, but the Wildcats ran off five straight points to take a 17-13 advantage and later used a 4-1 run to take a 27-20 edge that effectively put the game out of reach.
Central never trailed in winning the second game. In the third, Western led only at 2-1 and 3-2, but the Vikings were down by just one at 21-20 before the Wildcats pulled away
Middle blocker Meghan Evoy (Sr., Olympia/Capital) led Western with 14 kills and no errors in 29 attempts, but the rest of the team had an attack percentage of -.017 (25-27-116).
"Meghan Evoy played an outstanding match, she's as consistent as they come," said Flick. "We rely on her every single night, but we've got to have a least three other people besides her step up."
Western hosts Seattle Pacific University on Friday (7 p.m.) in a GNAC counter.
