Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University junior outside hitter Arielle Turner recorded a match-high 16 points to lead the 20th-ranked Vikings to a three-game sweep (25-18, 25-19, 25-17) over rival Central Washington Thursday evening in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at Whatcom Pavilion.

Western won its fourth consecutive match to improve to 9-6 overall and 5-2 in GNAC play.

"That was fun...I don't even know where to start talking about our performance tonight," said head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "It took everyone on the court playing together and executing our plan to play at this high level. A total team win tonight!"

Turner (Leavenworth, WA/Cascade) led all players with 14 kills and added a pair of service aces in the victory.

"This feels great, because we played together the whole night," said Turner. "We didn't panic when things got close and really stuck to our game plan all night."

Sophomore outside hitter Abby Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) recorded her GNAC leading 11th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 18 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) had 9 kills and 3 blocks for 10.5 points.

Redshirt freshman libero Mae Thungc (Kent, WA/Kentridge) celebrated her 19th birthday with a match-high 20 digs. Sophomore Brett Boesel (Brewster, WA) and junior Kristina Tribley (Wenatchee, WA) ran the 6-2 to perfection with 25 and 20 assists respectively.

"It is hard to single out any one player tonight," said Flick-Williams. "I look at the stat sheet and there were so many great performances. It is really nice to see the stuff we have been working on in practice translate into the game."

The Vikings opened with a 25-18 win in the first set, led by five kills each from Turner and Harper. Western jumped out to a 15-8 lead, fended off a Central run with the gap closed to 20-17, but finished off the set with a 5-1 run.

Western took a 2-0 lead with a 25-19 victory in the second set. Phelps led all players with 6 kills, while Harper and Buckner each had a pair of blocks. The Wildcats pulled to within two at 14-12 and three points at 18-15, but the Vikings closed out the match 7-4 run.

WWU closed out the match with a 25-17 third-set victory, led by 6 kills and 6 digs from Phelps.

Heading into the match as the top hitting percentage team in the GNAC, the Vikings hit a scorching .378 in the match (53 kills, 8 errors, 119 attacks). WWU also limited the Wildcats, who entered the match as the top blocking team in NCAA Division II, to only 5.0 blocks.

Jordan Deming led CWU with 9 kills and Kyla Morgan recorded 17 digs.

The Vikings (9-6 overall, 5-2 GNAC) continue GNAC play on Saturday hosting Northwest Nazarene on Saturday (7 pm). The match will be the annual DIG PINK MATCH to raise funds and awareness for the cure, with proceeds going to benefit the PeaceHealth St. Joseph Cancer Center.