Box Score Sept. 2, 2017 Box Score
LAKELAND, Fla. - Western Washington University junior middle blocker Michaela Hall recorded a career-high 19 kills to lead the 12th-ranked Vikings to a 3-2 (21-25, 25-17, 25-16, 15-25, 15-10) victory over tournament host Florida Southern College Saturday evening in the final match of The Terrace Hotel Classic. WWU (3-1) finished the four-match tournament with a 3-1 record, with the only loss coming against defending national champion and top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul.
The Vikings dropped the opening set to the Moccasins, but battled back to win the next two sets to take a 2-1 lead. FSC pushed the match to a deciding fifth set where Western prevailed with a 15-10 win to win its third consecutive match.
"This match was full of lessons learned," said 18th-year head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "The team showed great resilience and responded well in tight situations." Hall (Centralia, WA) was a difference-maker for the Vikings, recording 19 kills on a .378 hitting percentage. The junior added 5 blocks (1 solo, 4 assisted) to finish with a match-high 22.0 points.
"Michaela really took over this match," added Flick-Williams. "It was not only her kills and blocks, but her presence on the court was what we needed when it was close."
Junior outside hitter Abby Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) recorded her third consecutive double-double with 15 kills and 27 digs, and finished the tournament averaging 4.00 kills and 4.47 digs per set. Senior opposite Joellee Buckner (Colville, WA) contributed her second double-double of the day with 11 kills and 22 digs, and her younger sister, Aubrey, recorded a career-high 30 digs. Senior outside hitter Arielle Turner (Leavenworth, WA/Cascade) rounded out the four Vikings to record double-digits in kills, contributing 11 kills and just missing the double-double with 9 digs. Junior setter Brette Boesel (Brewster, WA) ran the offense with a season-high 48 assists. Redshirt freshman Alison Davenport (Auburn, WA/Auburn Mountainview) came off the bench to contribute a pair of service aces. Florida Southern (2-2) was led by double-double performance by Anna Tovo (17 kills, 16 digs) and Nicole Mattson (17 kills, 14 digs). The Moccasins were the first team listed in the receiving votes section of the AVCA Division II preseason poll.
The Moccasins took the opening set 25-21, using a mid-set really to take the 1-0 lead. FSC came out of a timeout trailing 16-13 and went on an 8-1 run to race to a 21-17 lead.
The Vikings used an extended run of their own to take the second set in convincing fashion 25-17. WWU trailed early 6-3, but went on a 14-4 run to build a 17-10 lead. Florida Southern fended off four set points before the Vikings put the game away 25-17 to tie the match 1-1.
The Vikings and Moccasins went back-and-forth in the early part of the third set with nine tie scores before WWU broke away from a 9-9 deadlock. Western went on a decisive 10-3 run to build a 19-12 lead, and went on to finish off the set on a 16-7 run in the 25-16 victory.
Florida Southern pushed the match to a decisive fifth set with an 25-15 fourth-set victory. The Mocs raced out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back to even the game at 2-2.
WWU set the tone in the final set jumping out to a 5-0 lead, and never trailed while improving to 1-0 in 5-set matches this season. Florida Southern got to within three points at 9-6, but the Vikings put the match away going on a 6-5 run to seal the victory.
The Vikings will cross the country returning to Bellingham tomorrow and return to action next week at the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase in Anchorage, Alaska. WWU will face California Baptist (Thursday), Cal State San Bernardino (Friday), Concordia-Irvine (Friday) and Chico State (Saturday) in the tournament hosted by the University of Alaska Anchorage at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Notes: Abby Phelps moved into the career top 25 in WWU history in kills with 749 in her career (25th)...her 926 digs are also 16th-most in program history...Joellee Buckner became the 12th player in program history to record 1,000 career digs (12th with 1,007).
