BURNABY, BC – The No. 7 nationally-ranked Western Washington was pushed to the limits, but in the end found a way to gain a five-set road victory over Simon Fraser on Tuesday night in West Gym. Game scores were 25-19, 19-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-8 in favor of Western.
WWU improved to 12-3 overall, extending its winning streak to 12 consecutive matches, and maintains its spot on top of the GNAC with a perfect 7-0 league mark. Simon Fraser, playing in front of 682 fans on their annual 'Red Night' game, falls to 6-7 overall and 3-4 in conference play.
The match marked the third time the Vikings have gone to five sets this season, improving to 3-0 when they go the distance. Dating back to the 2015 Final Four season, WWU is 16-3 in matches that go five sets, including a current string of six consecutive victories.
"It was a hard-fought match and a gut-check for our team," said 19
th-year head coach
Diane Flick-Williams. "We had some ups-and-downs during the match, but we regrouped after the third set and played well the rest of the way. Tonight we found a way to get the win on the road."
The Vikings were led by senior outside hitter
Abby Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan), who tallied 27 kills and 15 digs for her league-leading 13
th double-double of the season. She shouldered the bulk of WWU's offense with 83 attacks and connected on a .265 hitting percentage. She also had 3 blocks and one service ace for a match-high 29.5 points. She fell one kill short of her career-high 28 set vs. Alaska Anchorage last season in the NCAA II West Regional quarterfinal.
"Abby stepped up big-time tonight and had some big kills in big moments," said Flick-Williams. "We needed her tonight and she really took over the last part of the match with both her power and her smart decisions."
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PHELPS IN WWU RECORD BOOK
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KILLS
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1.
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Meghan Evoy
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1,379
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2001-04
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2.
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Abby Phelps
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1,377
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2015-c
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3.
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Marlayna Geary
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1,354
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2009-12
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4.
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Gretchen Haakenson
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1,228
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1990-93
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5.
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Shannon Roland
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1,198
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1999-02
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Reigning GNAC Player of the Week
Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) recorded 13 kills on a .393 hitting percentage, and added a match-high 6 blocks for 16.5 points.
With the Vikings down in the third set, senior middle blocker
Michaela Hall (Centralia, WA) came off the bench to spark Western to the come-from-behind victory. Hall missed WWU's last match vs. Alaska Anchorage with an injury and did not start Tuesday night. In three sets of action Hall recorded 5 kills and contributed 3 blocks.
Senior setter
Brette Boesel (Brewster, WA) tallied 55 assists and 15 digs, while sophomore outside hitter
Alison Davenport (Auburn, WA/Auburn Mountainview) had 6 kills, 11 digs and 2 blocks.
WWU's defensive tandem of senior
Aubrey Stephens (Colville, WA) and junior
Mae Thungc (Kent, WA/Kentridge) combined for 43 digs, with Stephens recording a season-high 27 digs.
"Once again our serve and receive were so important in getting us back into the match," said Flick-Williams. "Aubrey and Mae extended rallies, created more chances for our offense and were solid on the service line."
Simon Fraser has the statistical advantage in digs (114-92) and kills (71-64), but the Vikings won the battle at the net with 10.0 blocks to 6.0. WWU hit .229 for the match, while SFU was at .235.
The Clan had four players reach double-figures in kills, led by 20 kills from Kirsten Pinkney and 15 from Tessa May. Setter Julia Tays recorded a match-high 58 assists.
SET 1 (WWU 25, SFU 19): The Vikings opened the match with a 25-19 win in the first set, led by 5 kills from Phelps and 3 each from Harper and Davenport. WWU pulled away from an 8-7 lead by going on a 5-2 run. Simon Fraser pulled back to within two points at 17-15, but the Vikings responded with a 4-1 run to pull ahead 21-16 and closed out the set winning five of the last eight points.
SET 2 (SFU 25, WWU 19): Simon Fraser scored five of the first six points in the second set, which set them up for a big run to open the frame and the eventual 25-19 set win. The Clan hit .500 in the set which helped them build a 18-10 lead. The Vikings staged a comeback going on a 10-4 run pulling to within four points at 22-18, but SFU ended the set on a 3-1 run to tie the match 1-1.
SET 3 (SFU 25, WWU 23): The Vikings and Clan fought through three early tie scores before SFU gained advantage going on a 3-0 run to lead 15-12. SFU led 23-19, but WWU won four of the next five points, and fought off three set points, before SFU won 25-23 to go up 2-1 in the match.
SET 4 (WWU 25, SFU 14): WWU took back momentum with a dominating 25-14 win in the fourth set, evening the match 2-2. The Vikings opened on a 7-0 run, and after withstanding a 6-1 SFU spurt, pulled away winning eight of the next nine points to lead 16-7 and never looked back to force a deciding fifth set. Phelps tallied 5 of her match-high 27 kills in the fourth set.
SET 5 (WWU 15, SFU 8): The Vikings carried the momentum from the fourth set into the beginning of the fifth by scoring the first three points of the set. SFU called a timeout, responding with a 3-1 run to pull to within one point at 4-3. The Vikings won the race to eight (8-5) and 10 (10-7), but the Clan pulled to within two points at 10-8, before WWU ended the match scoring the final five points. Phelps had 6 kills on 8 swings in the deciding set, while Thungc held serve for most of the final run.
The Vikings (12-3, 7-0 GNAC) return to Carver Gym this Saturday hosting Montana State Billings with first serve scheduled for 7 pm. Advance tickets are available online at
WWUVikings.com/Tickets.
MATCH NOTES…WWU extended winning streaks of 12 matches (overall) and 25 matches (in GNAC games dating back to last season)…during the 12-match winning streak, the Vikings have won 36 of 45 sets...
Abby Phelps moved into 2
nd place in WWU history with and 8
th in GNAC history with 1,377 career kills…she is now only 2 kills short of the WWU record of 1,379 set by Meghan Evoy from 2001-04…the 27 kills by Phelps are tied for 5
th-most in a match by a WWU player and second-most in her career…
Kayleigh Harper moved up to 8
th in WWU history with 372 total blocks and
Michaela Hall remains 10
th with 366 blocks…
Brette Boesel moved up to No. 12 in GNAC history with 3,555 career assists…WWU leads the all-time series vs. Simon Fraser 65-34 and has won 16 of the last 17 meetings.
VOLLEYBALL CLINIC & YOUTH TEAMS NIGHT…there will be a free volleyball clinic with Viking players and coaches in the morning from 11:30 am - 12:30 pm, with youth 13-and-under invited to attend (check-in at 11:15 am). The match vs. the Yellowjackets will be Youth Teams Night with free admission for youth 13-and-under that wear any youth team jersey.
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 (27), Harper (13), Gunterman (7)
Aces - Stephens (2), Phelps (1), Lyall (1)
Blocks - Harper (6), Phelps (3), Hall (3)
Assists - Boesel (55), Harper (2), Phelps (1)
Digs - Stephens (27), Thungc (16), Boesel (15)
UPDATED GNAC STANDINGS…
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VOLLEYBALL
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CONF
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PCT
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OVERALL
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PCT
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HOME
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AWAY
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NEUTRAL
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STREAK
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Western Washington
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7-0
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1.000
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12-3
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.800
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4-0
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5-0
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3-3
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Won 12
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Central Washington
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5-1
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.833
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11-2
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.846
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3-2
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5-0
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3-0
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Won 2
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Seattle Pacific
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5-1
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.833
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7-6
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.538
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5-1
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2-1
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0-4
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Won 5
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Alaska Anchorage
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4-2
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.667
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11-3
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.786
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5-1
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4-1
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2-1
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Lost 1
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Concordia
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4-2
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.667
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7-6
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.538
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4-2
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3-1
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0-3
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Lost 1
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Simon Fraser
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3-4
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.429
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6-7
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.462
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2-3
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2-1
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2-3
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Lost 1
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Western Oregon
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2-4
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.333
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5-8
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.385
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1-3
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2-1
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2-4
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Lost 2
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Northwest Nazarene
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2-4
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.333
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2-11
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.154
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0-5
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2-3
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0-3
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Won 1
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Montana State Billings
|
1-5
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.167
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7-8
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.467
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0-2
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3-4
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4-2
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Won 1
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Alaska
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1-5
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.167
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3-10
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.231
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0-2
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1-4
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2-4
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Lost 2
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Saint Martin's
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0-6
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.000
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2-10
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.167
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0-3
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1-4
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1-3
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Lost 7
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