Oct. 3, 2009

Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Outside hitter Marlayna Geary (Fr., Tacoma/Bellarmine Prep) had a match-high 19 kills on .400 hitting (35 attempts, 5 errors) as Western Washington University swept arch-rival Central Washington University, 25-16, 31-29, 25-16, on Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The Vikings, who had a .214 to .080 hitting advantage, improved to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in GNAC play.

Middle blocker Emily Jepsen (So., Kennewick/Kamiakin) had 10 kills and a match-high six blocks for Western, and libero Allison Gotz (Jr., Bothell/Archbishop Murphy) added a match-high 22 kills.

Central fell to 9-7 overall and 1-4 in league counters. The Wildcats have lost six of their last eight matches following a 7-1 start.

The Vikings also got six kills, a match-high three service aces and 11 digs from Jordyn Bailey (Jr., Wenatchee), and seven kills and four blocks from Kathryn Mertens (Jr., Olympia).

Western scored the first five points in set one and led 13-5 after another run of five points. Central, which hit just .032 in the first stanza, never got closer than seven after that as Geary had seven kills and just one error in nine attempts for the Vikings.

Trailing 15-13 in set two, Western scored seven straight points, four on Geary kills, to take a 20-15 advantage, only to have the Wildcats rally to tie it at 22-all.

Bailey had two kills to put the Vikings ahead 24-22 and another one for a 25-24 lead, but Central fought back each time to tie and there were five ties and five lead changes before Western rallied from a 29-28 deficit with three straight points including the set winner on a kill by Mertens.

The Vikings broke open set three with a 7-1 run to take a 14-8 lead and the closest Central got after that was six, 21-15.

Western, which has won its last seven matches over the Wildcats, is now 86-9 (.905) at Carver Gym during Flick's 10 seasons and 5-2 this year.

The Vikings next entertain Northwest Nazarene on Thursday (7 p.m.) in a GNAC counter.