BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Elevating to No. 2 in the NCAA Division II national poll earlier this week, the Western Washington University volleyball team showed no signs of slowing down recording its 20^th consecutive victory with a 3-0 sweep over Simon Fraser University Tuesday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on WECU Court in Carver Gym.
 
The Vikings improved to 20-3 overall and remain perfect in GNAC play at 15-0 with the 25-15, 25-12, 25-23 victory. In addition to the current 20-match winning streak that dates back to August 25, Western has also won 33 consecutive GNAC contests and 26 consecutive matches played in Carver Gym.
 
Simon Fraser, who pushed the Vikings to five sets earlier this season in Burnaby, dropped to 10-11 overall and 7-8 in GNAC play. WWU has now defeated SFU in 17 of 18 meetings since they joined the GNAC in 2010 and won 26 straight in home matches vs. the Clan dating back to 1985.
 
"Tonight was a great team effort. I thought we came out real strong in the first two sets where everyone was contributing," said head coach Diane Flick-Williams, who has led the Vikings to seven consecutive 20-win seasons. "I am super proud of this group and their ability to approach each match with good focus and a determined mindset."
 
Senior middle Michaela Hall (Centralia, WA) led all players with 12 kills on a .478 hitting percentage (12-1-23) and added 3 blocks for a team-high 14.0 points.
 
Senior outside hitter Abby Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) tallied yet another double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs, giving her 19 out of 23 matches with double-digits in both kills and digs this season. Already WWU's all-time kills leader, Phelps is now 40 kills short of breaking the GNAC record for kills in a career with 1,474.
 
Junior middle Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) added 9 kills and 3 blocks, and senior setter Brette Boesel (Brewster, WA) contributed 36 assists, 10 digs and 3 blocks for the all-around effort. Senior libero Aubrey Stephens (Colville, WA) tied for the match high with 16 digs.
 
Redshirt freshman Gabby Gunterman (Lake Stevens, WA) also had 9 kills on a .280 hitting percentage, marking her sixth consecutive match with 7-or-more kills. Sophomore Alison Davenport (Auburn, WA/Auburn Mountainview) also had a solid all-around match with 7 kills, 7 digs, a block and a service ace.
 
Simon Fraser did not have a player reach double-figures in kills, led by 9 kills from Kirsten Pinkney. Libero Bianca Te tied for the match high with 16 digs.
 
The Vikings (20-3, 15-0 GNAC) face another quick turnaround playing its fourth match in eight days on Thursday with a road match at Montana State Billings (11-13, 5-9 GNAC) at 7 pm MT/6 pm PT. The match will stream live and feature live statistical updates at GNAC.tv.
 
SET 1 (WWU 25, SFU 15): SFU took an early lead at 3-1 and 4-2, but the Vikings went on an 8-3 run to take a 10-7 lead. A small 3-1 spurt by WWU extended the lead to four points at 13-9, forcing SFU to call its first timeout. Western continued the run winning five of the next six points out of the timeout to grow the lead to seven points at 18-11, and never looked back while taking the opening set 25-15. Hall led the Vikings with 5 kills (.500), with Davenport contributing 4 kills. Western out-hit SFU .405 to .275 in the opening set.
 
SET 2 (WWU 25, SFU 12): The Vikings took control from the start of the second set, building an 14-3 lead that was fueled by a 10-1 run, winning eight consecutive points during the stretch. WWU grew the lead to 20-9 and never looked back while going up 2-0 in the match with a 25-12 victory. Hall and Gunterman each had 4 kills in the second set, as the Vikings again hit over .400 (.412) compared to SFU's .027 mark.
 
SET 3 (WWU 25, SFU 23): WWU built an early 5-point lead at 11-6, but the Clan came out of their first timeout winning seven consecutive points to pull ahead 13-11. SFU built its lead to 17-14, but the Vikings climbed back into the set going on a 7-2 run to regain the lead at 21-19. The Clan tied the set at 23-23, forcing WWU to call a timeout, which sparked the Vikings to win the final two points on kills by Harper and Phelps to clinch the sweep. Phelps had 5 of her 10 kills in the final set, with Harper adding 4 kills.
  Kills - Hall (12), Phelps (10), Harper (9), Gunterman (9), Davenport (7)
Aces - Phelps (1), Davenport (1), Lyall (1)
Blocks - Boesel (3), Hall (3), Harper (3)
Assists - Boesel (36)
Digs - Stephens (16), Phelps (15), Boesel (10)
  WWU out-hit SFU .294-132 in the match, and held a 6.0 to 4.0 edge in blocks…the match featured 10 tie scores (7 in the third set) and three lead changes (2 in the third set)…WWU had a 62-56 advantage in digs in the match…WWU had a 93% sideout percentage (14-for-15) in the first set.
  WWU extended winning streaks of 20 matches this season and 33 consecutive GNAC victories (dating back to last season)…also won 26 straight in Carver Gym and 27 consecutive home matches…during the 20-match winning streak, the Vikings have won 60 of 70 sets and recorded 13 sweeps…20 consecutive wins is tied for the 3^rd-longest winning streak in program history…here is a look at the longest winning streaks in program history:
 

LONGEST WWU WIN STREAKS
1.	24	Aug. 29-Nov. 15, 2003
2.	21	Sept. 13-Nov. 30, 2007
3.	20	Aug. 25, 2018-current
	20	Aug. 25-Oct. 27, 2001
	20	Sept. 19-Dec. 1, 2017
6.	18	Sept. 14-Nov. 16, 2002
7.	16	Sept. 5-Oct. 17, 2015
8.	13	Sept. 5-Oct. 9, 2008
9.	12	Oct. 19-Nov. 16, 1990
10.	11	Sept. 24-Oct. 29, 2016

With tonight's victory, WWU recorded its 20^th win of the season, the seventh consecutive 20-win season for the program and 29^th overall in the 47-year history of the program…head coach Diane Flick-Williams has led the Vikings to at least 20 wins now in 14 of her 19 seasons leading the program…over the last seven seasons during the streak of 20-win campaigns, WWU has combined to go 165-36 (.821).
  Abby Phelps is now 40 kills short of the all-time GNAC record for kills with 1,474, with the record of 1,513 held by Sam Harthun (Alaska Fairbanks, 2012-15)…with 11.0 points Tuesday night, Phelps now has 1,681.5 in her career to move into 3^rd place in GNAC history.
    WWU swept the season series vs. Simon Fraser, improving to 66-34 all-time vs. the Clan…won 17 of the last 18 in the series dating back to 2010 when SFU joined the GNAC…now won 26 straight home matches vs. SFU dating back to the 1985 season.
  Michaela Hall and Kayleigh Harper each had 3 blocks apiece, as they inch towards the 400-block mark for their careers…Hall now has 399 career blocks, while Harper is right behind her with 396…they will become the 7^th and 8^th players in program history and 9th and 10^th players in GNAC history to reach the 400-block mark.
    Fans can follow WWU Volleyball online at WWUVikings.com/VB, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUVolleyball), Instagram (@WWUVB) and Facebook (@WWUVolleyball).