Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The 17th-ranked Western Washington Vikings continued their winnings ways with a three-game sweep of Concordia Saturday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at Whatcom Pavilion.

The 25-13, 25-23, 25-17 victory extended the Vikings winning streak to 11 consecutive matches, improving to 16-6 overall and 12-2 in GNAC play. Seven of the 11 matches during the winning streak have been three-game sweeps. Concordia falls to 12-10 overall and 8-6 in league play.

The Vikings did not have a player reach double-digits in kills, but had five players with 5 or more kills in the balanced attack. WWU also recorded a season-high-tying 8 service aces. Redshirt freshman Kazlyn Roullier (Spokane Valley, WA/Central Valley) led Western with 9 kills on a .389 hitting percentage.

"A balanced offense was key yet again for us, as we didn't have a player with double-digit kills," said head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "But we did a nice job of picking each other up and putting pressure on them when we needed to."

Junior outside hitter Arielle Turner (Leavenworth, WA/Cascade) recorded 3 of the team's 8 service aces, and added 5 kills for 8.0 total points. Junior outside hitter Abby Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) added 7 kills on a .350 hitting percentage and recorded 9 digs. Junior opposite Joellee Buckner (Colville, WA) led the Vikings with 13 digs and junior setter Kristina Tribley (Wenatchee, WA) tallied a team-high 15 assists.

"I thought our serve-receive game was the key tonight," added Flick-Williams. "We did a nice job putting pressure on them in the first game with a really strong service game and carried that throughout the match."

Fueled by 5 service aces, the Vikings jumped out to the lead with a commanding 25-13 win in the first set. Roullier led all players with 5 kills in the opening frame, while Turner had 3 kills and a pair of aces. Phelps added 4 kills on a .800 hitting percentage, while the team hit .429 for the set. WWU pulled away from a 12-9 lead, finishing the set on a 13-4 run.

WWU went up 2-0 with a come-from-behind 25-23 second set victory. The Vikings called a timeout trailing 17-15, then immediately went on a 5-0 run to take a 20-17 lead. CU climbed back to tie the game at 21-21, but Western didn't let down to finish off the set on a 10-6 run. Harper led WWU with 3 kills and a block.

The Vikings clinched the sweep with a 25-17 win in the third game. Leading by one at 16-15, WWU went on a quick 3-0 run to build the lead to 19-15 and finished off the match on a 9-2 run to record its 11th straight win.

WWU returns to action next week with road matches at Northwest Nazarene (Thursday, 7 pm MT/6 pm PT) and Central Washington (Saturday, 7 pm).

Game Notes: The Vikings extended their winning streak to 11 consecutive matches and remain alone in 2nd place in the GNAC with a 11-2 record...Kayleigh Harper recorded her 256th career block, gaining sole possession of 15th place in the WWU record books moving past Kirsten Mann 1998-2001...WWU is now 11-3 in three-game matches this season...8 service aces tie the season high from matches against Northern State (9/2) and Truman (9/3).