Sept. 3, 2010
Box Score
INDEPENDENCE, Ore. - Middle blockers Emily Jepsen (Jr., Kennewick/Kamiakin) and Bailey Jones (So., Mukilteo/Mariner) combined for 19 kills as Western Washington University swept Humboldt State, 25-17, 25-15, 25-17, to complete first-day action Friday at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Challenge.
The Vikings improved to 2-0 and Humboldt State dropped to 0-2.
Jepsen had a match-high 10 kills in 18 attempts with just three errors for a .389 attack percentage, and Jones added nine kills in 16 attempts with just one miscue for a .500 percentage. Jones also had four blocks, and Jepsen and Haleigh Adkins (Jr., Puyallup/Rogers) each had three service aces.
In the match, which was held at Central High School, Western closed out the first two sets with respective runs of 16-6 and 13-4, and got out to a 10-2 lead in the third set.
Western finished with a .329 hitting percentage and held Humboldt State to .071. "Humboldt State is a hard team to play because they play with a different rhythm," said Western coach Diane Flick. "We did a good job of continuing to play our game and eliminating our errors. Our middles did an excellent job in this match."
On Friday morning, outside hitter Jordyn Bailey (Sr., Wenatchee) had a match-high 13 kills in 25 attempts for an attack percentage of .520 and added 10 digs as Western made its season debut with a sweep of nationally ranked Metro State CO, 25-18, 25-17, 25-18, in the New P.E. Building on the campus of host Western Oregon University.
It was the sixth straight season-opening victory for the Vikings, the preseason favorite in the GNAC Coaches Poll. Outside hitter Marlayna Geary (So., Tacoma/Bellarmine Prep) also posted a double-double for Western with 11 kills and 12 digs.
The match was the season debut for Metro State, ranked No.10 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Top 25 Poll.
The Vikings never trailed in the first set and held Metro State to a kill percentage of just .026 in the second set. They trailed 12-13 in the third set before scoring four straight points to begin a set and match ending 13-5 run.
Jepsen had match-highs of four blocks and three service aces for Western as well as seven kills. Setter Kari Rice (Sr., Toppenish/Eisenhower) had 33 assists and libero Allison Gotz (Sr., Bothell/Archbishop Murphy) tied for match-high honors with 13 digs.
On Saturday, Western meets nationally No.8-ranked UC San Diego at 10 a.m. on the WOU campus and No.2 Cal State San Bernardino at 5 p.m. at CHS. CSUSB has won the last two West Region titles and reached the national title match in 2009.
"Obviously, it was a good first day," Flick said, "but we're in a dogfight tomorrow. So, we celebrated for a second and now we're moving on."
