Sept. 12, 2010
Box Score
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Outside hitter Megan Amundson (Sr., Stanwood) had 25 kills, six in the decisive fifth set, and 15 digs as nationally ranked Western Washington University defeated arch-rival Central Washington, 25-20, 24-26, 26-24, 21-25, 15-10, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball contest Sunday afternoon at Nicholson Pavilion.
The Vikings, rated No.18 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in GNAC action with their second straight five-set victory.
Central fell to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Katy Try paced the Wildcats with a match-high 27 kills.
"I felt defensively like we did a great job of creating opportunities," said Western coach Diane Flick. "We just struggled to convert a high percentage of them,"
"We came up with some pretty gritty performances. Megan (Amundson) had 25 kills and she was still swinging away at the end. That's what you want from a senior. We also got some great performances from our middles."
Tied at two sets each, Western scored five of the last seven points in the fifth set for the win. Amundson had two kills during that stretch.
Middle blocker Emily Jepsen (Jr., Kennewick/Kamiakin) had 14 kills for the Vikings and a match-high six blocks. Libero Allison Gotz (Sr., Bothell/Archbisop Murphy) led in digs with 46 and Jordyn Bailey (Sr., Wenatchee) added 23.
Setter Kari Rice (Sr., Toppenish/Eisenhower) had 59 assists, 10 digs and three kills for Western, and outside hitter Marlayna Geary (So., Tacoma/Bellarmine) and middle blocker Bailey Jones (So., Mukilteo/Kamiak) each had 10 kills.
Amundson had four kills, including the final point, in a 9-4 run that broke a 16-16 tie in set one. Three straight attack errors for the Vikings ended set two and tied the match at 1-1.
Kills by Jepsen and Jones gave Western set three and a 2-1 lead, but with the Vikings within one, 22-21, in set four, Central scored the last three points to tie the contest at 2-2. There were 16 ties and eight lead changes in that set.
Western makes its home debut Friday (7 p.m.) in a GNAC counter against Saint Martin's.
