Nov. 1, 2008
Box Score
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - The senior blocking duo of Angie Alvord (Laurel/Meridian) and Tiana Roma (Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway) combined for 30 kills as Western Washington University swept Central Washington University, 25-15, 25-20, 25-22, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match Saturday at Nicholson Pavilion.
It was the fifth straight win for the Vikings, rated No.12 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll and No.7 in the West Region rating. They improved to 18-2 overall, 13-1 on the road, and are 10-2 in GNAC action.
Central, which suffered its first home loss in nine matches this season and 13 overall, fell to 15-9 overall and 7-5 in league play. The Wildcats hit just .176 for the match.
Alvord had a match-high 17 kills with just three errors on 31 attempts for a .452 attack percentage, and Roma added 13 kills with no errors in 30 attempts for a .433 hitting percentage. They also each had a match-high three blocks, and Alvord added two service aces.
"What a solid match by our middles," said Western coach Diane Flick. "That's great senior leadership."
"It just seemed like we were in very good control emotionally, ball-handling wise, and hitting-wise."
Ahead by just three points in set one, Western finished with an 11-4 run. Leading by only one, 19-18, in set two, the Vikings took six of the last eight points, five of them on kills by Alvord.
Western never trailed in set three, but led by just one, 22-21, before finishing with a 3-1 run highlighted by two Alvord kills.
Libero Allison Gotz (So., Bothell/Archbishop Murphy), ranked No.2 nationally in digs per set, had a match-high 22 digs for the Vikings, and outside hitter Megan Amundson (So., Stanwood) and Haleigh Adkins (Fr., Puyallup/Rogers) each had 13 digs. Setter Kari Rice (Jr., Toppenish/Eisenhower) had 41 assists for Western.
The Vikings close out a string of four GNAC road matches, traveling to league-leading Western Oregon on Thursday (7 p.m.) and Saint Martin's on Saturday (7 p.m.).
