Sept. 7, 2006
Box Score
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Outside hitter Jaime Anderson (Jr., SeaTac/Mount Rainier) and middle blocker Angie Alvord (So., Bellingham/Meridian) led a balanced attack with 11 kills each as Western Washington University swept Western Oregon University, 30-20, 30-25, 30-21, in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball opener for both schools Thursday on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium.
The Vikings improved to 5-4 overall with their third consecutive victory. Western Oregon, which was led by the seven kills of outside hitter Keyanna Jenkins, fell to 2-9.
Right-side hitter Marissa Hill (So., North Bend/Mount Si) added 10 kills for Western Washington, which had 11 blocks in the match, its second-best total of the season. Alvord and Hill were involved in nine of those, with Alvord getting a match-high eight.
"Sometimes our blocking has been a blessing, sometimes a curse," said Western coach Diane Flick. "When we've been disciplined, and shut down hitters, it has been a blessing."
The Vikings never trailed by more than a point in any game, and pulled away by midway through each of them. They used a 6-1 run to open up a 19-11 lead in the first game and an 8-3 charge to take an 18-12 edge in the second game, then jumped to a 10-4 lead to control the final game.
"I'd like to see us keep teams earning their way out of tight situations, rather than letting them out with service errors, but overall, I was very pleased with how we started and finished the match," said Flick.
The Vikings had 14 service errors, six of them in the third game.
Setter Katie Robinson (Jr., Everson/Nooksack Valley) had 42 assists and three aces for Western Washington. Libero Courtney Schneider (Jr., Snohomish) had a match-high 20 digs, upping her career total to 1,373, 62 short of the school record of 1,435 held by Nicola Parker (2000-03).
Western travels to Northwest Nazarene (5-4, 1-0) on Saturday (7 p.m.) for a GNAC counter. The Crusaders opened their league campaign with a 3-1 win over Seattle U.
