MONMOUTH, Ore. – The No. 7 nationally-ranked Western Washington University volleyball team closed out a perfect first of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season with a 3-0 sweep over Western Oregon on Saturday evening in New PE Building. Game scores were 25-12, 25-15, 25-17 in favor of the Vikings.
The Vikings won their 15
th consecutive match to improve to 15-3 overall and hold a two-game lead on first place in the GNAC standings with a 10-0 record. WWU has now won its last 28 conference matches dating back to last season. Western Oregon dropped its sixth consecutive match to fall to 5-12 overall and 2-8 in conference play.
"I think we played pretty well tonight and pretty balanced," said 19
th-year head coach
Diane Flick-Williams. "Brette (Boesel) was steady for us in every facet of the game – setting, serving, blocking – and really spread the ball around. Our middles were really good at producing and putting pressure on their defense."
Senior outside hitter
Abby Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) led the Vikings with a 15-kill, 22-dig double-double, her 15
th performance in 18 matches this season with double-digits in digs and kills.
Junior middle
Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) added 13 kills on a .632 hitting percentage, and added 5 blocks for a match-high 16.0 points. Senior middle
Michaela Hall (Centralia, WA) also had 9 kills while hitting .529.
Senior setter
Brette Boesel (Brewster, WA) paced the offense with 41 assists, and also contributed a kill and a block.
"We are playing one match at a time and not looking at the standings or the records," added Flick-Williams. "Our goal is just to improve each match and be our best each time out. Each opponent is tough and present a different challenge. We look forward to getting back to Carver Gym to play in front of the home crowd."
The Wolves were led by 7 kills by Descinda Slaughter and 6 from Mariella Vandenkooy.
The Vikings (15-3, 10-0 GNAC) return home to host a pair of key conference matches, with rival Central Washington (Thursday, 7 pm) and Northwest Nazarene (Saturday, 7 pm) visiting Carver Gym.
MATCH NOTES…WWU extended winning streaks of 15 matches (overall) and 28 consecutive GNAC matches…during the 15-match winning streak, the Vikings have won 45 of 54 sets…15-match winning streak remains 7
th-longest in program history (6
th-best is 16 straight wins in 2015)…the Vikings improved to 38-14 all-time vs. WOU and has won 18 of the last 19 meetings dating back to 2009…
Kayleigh Harper (382) and
Michaela Hall (382) are 12
th and 13
th in GNAC history in career blocks (8
th and 9
th in WWU history).
FOLLOW THE VIKS…Fans can follow WWU Volleyball online at
WWUVikings.com/VB, and via social media on
Twitter (@WWUVolleyball),
Instagram (@WWUVB) and
Facebook (@WWUVolleyball).
WWU LEADERS…
Kills - Phelps (15), Harper (13), Hall (9)
Aces - Stephens (1)
Blocks - Harper (5), Gunterman (4), Hall (2)
Assists - Boesel (41)
Digs - Phelps (22), Stephens (16), Thungc (13)
UPDATED GNAC STANDINGS…
|
VOLLEYBALL
|
CONF
|
PCT
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
Western Washington
|
10-0
|
1.000
|
15-3
|
.833
|
5-0
|
7-0
|
3-3
|
Won 15
|
|
Central Washington
|
8-2
|
.800
|
14-3
|
.824
|
5-2
|
6-1
|
3-0
|
Lost 1
|
|
Alaska Anchorage
|
8-2
|
.800
|
15-3
|
.833
|
7-1
|
6-1
|
2-1
|
Won 4
|
|
Simon Fraser
|
5-5
|
.500
|
8-8
|
.500
|
3-3
|
3-2
|
2-3
|
Lost 1
|
|
Concordia
|
5-5
|
.500
|
8-9
|
.471
|
5-3
|
3-3
|
0-3
|
Won 1
|
|
Alaska
|
5-5
|
.500
|
7-10
|
.412
|
2-2
|
3-4
|
2-4
|
Won 4
|
|
Seattle Pacific
|
5-5
|
.500
|
7-10
|
.412
|
5-3
|
2-3
|
0-4
|
Lost 4
|
|
Northwest Nazarene
|
4-6
|
.400
|
4-13
|
.235
|
2-6
|
2-4
|
0-3
|
Lost 2
|
|
Montana State Billings
|
3-7
|
.300
|
9-10
|
.474
|
2-2
|
3-6
|
4-2
|
Won 2
|
|
Western Oregon
|
2-8
|
.200
|
5-12
|
.294
|
1-5
|
2-3
|
2-4
|
Lost 6
|
|
Saint Martin's
|
0-10
|
.000
|
2-14
|
.125
|
0-5
|
1-6
|
1-3
|
Lost 11
|
