Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington sophomore middle blocker Kayleigh Harper recorded 11 kills and 5 blocks to lead the No. 18 Vikings to a three-game sweep of Saint Martin's Saturday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at Whatcom Pavilion. Game scores were 25-20, 25-12, 25-11 in favor of the Vikings.

With its 14th win in the last 15 matches, WWU improved to 19-7 overall and remain in second place in the GNAC with a 15-3 record. Saint Martin's falls to 6-16 overall and 2-16 in league play.

Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) tallied her 11 kills on 19 swings for a .474 hitting percentage. The balanced offensive attack also featured 10 kills each from Abby Phelps (So., Manson, WA/Chelan) and Arielle Turner (Leavenworth, WA/Cascade), and 9 kills from Joellee Buckner (Jr., Colville, WA). Turner added a pair of service aces and one block for 12.5 points. Michaela Hall (So., MB, Centralia, WA) had 7 kills on a .545 hitting percentage.

"Our offensive output was real strong tonight," said head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "We had good patience in long rallies, and did a nice job of getting the last best swing we could."

Buckner recorded her first double-double of the season with a team-high 14 digs and her sister, Aubrey, had 12 digs. Sophomore setter Brette Boesel (Brewster, WA) efficiently quarterbacked the offense with 33 assists and had 3 service aces.

WWU went ahead 1-0 with a 25-20 first-set victory, despite trailing early at 11-8. SMU went on a 10-4 run to take the three-point lead, but the Vikings regained the lead at 12-11 (5-1 run) and never looked back. Turner led the Vikings with 7.5 points in the opening frame behind 5 kills and a pair of service aces. Rachel Gondrezick led the Saints with 5 kills (.385).

The Vikings jumped ahead 7-1 and went on to a commanding 25-12 win in the second set, leading from wire-to-wire. Phelps led all players with 6 kills (.750) and Harper had 4 kills and a pair of blocks. Western hit a scorching .452 (18-4-31) in the set.

Western clinched the sweep with a 25-11 third-set victory, going on a 20-8 run to pull away from an early 5-3 lead. Harper, J. Buckner and Turner all recorded 4 kills in the final set.

Gondrezick led the Saints with 10 kills on a .242 hitting percentage (10-2-33) and Cassidy Apo led all players with 15 digs.

The Vikings continue their busy stretch of games to close out the regular season next week hosting Simon Fraser (Tuesday, 7 pm) and Montana State Billings (Thursday, 7 pm) at Whatcom Pavilion. All matches can be followed online via LiveStats and Webcast at WWUVikings.com/Live.

"We are in a good place heading into the last week of the regular season," added Flick-Williams. "We are looking forward to a strong finish and hopefully get a chance to continue our season."