Box Score

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Redshirt freshman Abby Phelps recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 18 digs to lead the No. 2 seed Western Washington Vikings to a three-set sweep over No. 7 seed Point Loma (25-23, 25-13, 25-19) Friday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 NCAA Division II West Region Volleyball Championships at Alaska Airlines Center.

The Vikings, ranked 16th in the AVCA Coaches Poll, improved to 24-5 overall while snapping a three-match losing streak in the NCAA Tournament. This is the Vikings ninth trip to the NCAA II Tournament and program-record fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA West Regional. Point Loma ends its season with a 20-10 record, including a pair of losses to the Vikings.

"We have to win as a team and I thought we had a very balanced match," said 16th-year head coach Diane Flick. "When they key on stopping one person, you need someone else to step up, and we did that. I'm proud that we could get a win with so many players in their first or second national tournament."

Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) recorded her team-leading ninth double-double (kills-digs) of the season, recording team-highs in kills (13) and digs (18). The GNAC Freshman of the Year added a .375 hitting percentage making only one error on 32 attacks.

"Abby came out aggressive early on," added Flick. "She did that in the front and back row, she led us in digs as well as kills. She did a good job of doing her job."

Senior outside hitter Rachel Roeder (Sammamish, WA/Issaquah), sophomore outside hitter Joellee Buckner (Colville, WA) and redshirt freshman middle blocker Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) each added 7 kills in the win. Harper tallied a match-high 5 blocks while Roeder matched her season high with 4 blocks (all in the second set). Buckner tallied 16 digs joining Phelps and senior opposite Jennica McPherson (Seattle, WA/Kennedy) had 11 digs to anchor the defense.

Setters Brette Boesel (RS Fr., Brewster, WA) and Kristina Tribley (So., Wenatchee, WA) had 19 and 16 assists respectively to balance out the offense.

The Vikings took the first set 25-23 behind 6 kills from Phelps and a .314 team hitting percentage. Western led 10-6, but Point Loma went on a 9-3 run to gain a 15-13 lead. The set featured 13 ties, including 16-16, 17-17, 18-18, 20-20 and 21-21 before the Vikings pulled away on a 4-2 run to take the set. WWU hit an efficient .314 (18 kills, 2 errors, 51 attacks) in the opening frame.

WWU opened the second set jumping out to a 10-2 lead and never looked back with a 25-13 win to go up 2-0. Roeder recorded 3 kills and 4 blocks in the set (2 solo). Western's big block (5 team blocks) in the set limited the Sea Lions to a -.075 hitting percentage in the set with 11 attack errors.

The Vikings earned the sweep with a 25-19 win in the third set. Down 14-10, WWU went on a 10-1 run to build a 20-15 lead en route to the victory. Phelps notched 4 of her team-high 13 kills in the set.

The Sea Lions were led by a match-high 14 kills by senior outside hitter Heather Leavitt and 19 digs by junior libero Christin Fisher.

The Vikings move on to the West Regional Semifinal facing No. 6 seed UC San Diego (20-11) tomorrow at 7 pm PT (6 pm Alaska time). The game will be streamed live via Game Central at WWUVikings.com.