Box Score Oct. 12, 2017 Box Score
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University junior outside hitter Abby Phelps recorded an 11-kill, 17-dig double-double to lead a balanced offensive attack for the 11th-ranked Vikings in a 3-0 sweep of Saint Martin's University Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on WECU Court at Carver Gym.
Game scores were 25-10, 25-17, 25-21 in favor of the Vikings, who won their seventh consecutive match to improve to 14-3 overall and moved into a tie atop the GNAC standings with Northwest Nazarene with an 8-1 league mark. WWU also remained perfect at home, improving to 5-0 inside the renovated Carver Gym.
"I thought we were very balanced tonight, and that is one of our keys to being successful," said 18th-year head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "We came out and set the tone early and did a nice job of remaining consistent throughout the match."
Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) recorded her league-leading 14th double-double with the 11 kills and 17 digs, also adding one ace and block assist to her stat line for 12.5 points.
Senior outside hitter Arielle Turner (Leavenworth, WA/Cascade) had 9 kills with a .400 hitting percentage (9 kills, 1 error, 20 attacks), and recorded a team-high 13.0 points also contributing 2 aces and 3 blocks.
Sophomore middle blocker Joslyn Bopray (Spokane, WA/Lewis & Clark) had 9 kills (.571) with a team-high 4 blocks and junior middle blocker Michaela Hall (Centralia, WA) notched 7 kills (.412) with 3 blocks. Reigning GNAC Offensive Player of the Week Joellee Buckner (Colville, WA) had 7 kills, 14 digs and 3 blocks.
"I thought we had great contributions from everyone that stepped on the court tonight," added Flick-Williams.
Overall the Vikings recorded a .319 team hitting percentage and out-blocked the Saints 8.0 to 4.0.
Junior setter Brette Boesel (Brewster, WA) ran the offense with 40 assists, and also had a service ace.
The Saints were led by 9 kills and 10 digs from Rebecca Mitchell, who became only the fifth player in Saint Martin's history to eclipse the 700-kill mark in a career. Libero Hannah Neumann had a team-high 16 digs for the Saints, who fall to 7-10 overall and 2-7 in GNAC play.
The Vikings (14-3, 8-1 GNAC) remain at home to host Seattle Pacific University (10-7, 5-4 GNAC) Saturday night at 7 pm on WECU Court at Carver Gym. Free parking is available in the 12A and C lots on campus, with shuttle service to Carver Gym. All home matches are streamed live on VikingsTV (WWUVikings.com/Live) and available via the GNAC channel on several streaming devices (Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, AndroidTV).
The match vs. the Falcons will also be the annual Pink Night, with fans encouraged to wear pink to the game to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research for PeaceHealth of Whatcom County.
