BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The No. 2 nationally-ranked Western Washington University volleyball team had four players reach double-figures in kills, with the balanced team effort leading to a 3-1 victory over Simon Fraser on Tuesday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on WECU Court in Carver Gym.

 

The Vikings remained perfect on the season improving to 13-0 overall and 5-0 in GNAC play with the 25-17, 25-13, 23-25, 25-16 victory. The 13-0 start to the season is now tied with the 2008 squad for the best in program history. WWU also extended winning streaks to 43 consecutive matches in GNAC play and 34 straight inside Carver Gym. Dating back to the start of last season, the Vikings have now won 43 of their last 44 matches.

 

The Vikings recorded the home victory over their border rivals while dominating the stat sheet, out-hitting Simon Fraser .279-.121, leading in blocks 11.0-6.0 and tallying seven service aces.

 

"At any given moment, someone was stepping up to make a play. It was great to see four players with double-digits in kills, Gabby was digging everything and we had 11 team blocks," said WWU head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "We had a lot of great individual performances, which lead to just an overall really great team performance. We served well, putting them in tough positions, and really executed our game plan well. SFU is a very good team and I thought we did a good job coming out with energy in front of another good home crowed in Carver Gym."

 

Redshirt freshman Calley Heilborn (Auburn, WA/Auburn Riverside) led the way for the Vikings with a 14-kill, 12-dig double-double. She also had a pair of blocks and two service aces to finish with a team-high 17.0 points. Heilborn now has 10 double-double performances (kills-blocks) in her first 13 collegiate matches. 

 

Senior All-American middle Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) added 10 kills on a .400 attack percentage, and led all players with 6 blocks. Sophomore middle Chloe Roetcisoender (Duvall, WA/Cedar Park Christian) contributed a career-high 10 kills on a .421 attack percentage and finished with 5 blocks for 12.5 points.

 

Sophomore outside hitter Gabby Gunterman (Lake Stevens, WA) was a defensive wizard with a career-high 29 digs, and also recorded her eighth double-double with 11 kills.

 

Redshirt freshman Tupu Lologo (Federal Way, WA) matched her career high with three service aces, all coming in the first set. Redshirt freshman setter Malia Aleaga (Burien, WA/Kennedy), the GNAC's leader in assists, had 46 assists 5 digs and 3 blocks assists.

 

Simon Fraser (6-7, 2-3 GNAC) was led by 14 kills from Kirsten Pinkney and 22 digs from Bianca Te.

 

The Vikings (12-0, 4-0 GNAC) take back to the road with a Friday match vs. Montana State Billings (4-9, 2-2 GNAC) with first serve scheduled for 7 pm MT/6 pm PT. WWU returns to Carver Gym next week hosting Saint Martin's (Thursday, Oct. 10) and Seattle Pacific (Saturday, Oct. 12) with both matches beginning at 7 pm.

 

SET 1 (WWU 25, SFU 17): Led by 5 kills on a .556 hitting percentage from Calley Heilborn, the Vikings secured the first set victory 25-17. WWU took an early lead going on a 7-0 run, with Tupu Lologo providing a trio of service aces during the run. After Western's big run, SFU closed to within four points at 11-7, but the Vikings answered with a 9-4 run to go up 20-11. The Clan put together a 7-3 run to pull to within six at 23-17, forcing a WWU timeout, but the Vikings closed it out with consecutive points.

 

SET 2 (WWU 25, SFU 13): The Vikings extended its lead to 2-0 in the match with a 25-13 second-set victory. With the set tied 3-3, Western went on a 10-2 run that provided to be the big shift in momentum providing too much of a deficit for SFU to make up. WWU used another 7-2 run to build its lead to 20-9 and sealed the set win with Heilborn's fifth kill of the set. 

 

SET 3 (SFU 25, WWU 23): Simon Fraser won the third set 25-23, leading early, and then overcoming a late deficit to push the match to a fourth set. SFU went on a 5-1 run to build a 14-10 lead, and stayed in control until the Vikings went on a 4-1 run to tie the set 19-19. WWU came out of a Simon Fraser timeout with consecutive points to lead 21-19, but the Clan answered with a 3-0 run to talk a one point lead. The set was tied at 22-22 and 23-23, before ending the set with three consecutive points. The Vikings played a majority of the set with an entire lineup of redshirt freshmen and sophomores on the court.

 

SET 4 (WWU 25, SFU 16): The Vikings sealed the match victory with another dominating effort in the fourth set, 25-16. WWU scored the first four points of the set and never looked back, building a 13-5 lead following a 6-1 run, and never trailed in the set to improve to 13-0 on the season. 

 

Kills - Heilborn (14), Gunterman (11), Harper (10), Roetcisoender (10)

Aces  - Lologo (3), Heilborn (2), Gunterman (1)

Blocks - Harper (6), Roetcisoender (5), Aleaga (3)

Assists - Aleaga (46), Lologo (3), Thungc (2)

Digs - Gunterman (29), Heilborn (12), Thungc (9)

Points - Heilborn (17.0), Harper (13.5), Roetcisoender (12.5), Gunterman (12.5)

 

The Vikings (13-0, 5-0 GNAC) return to the road to face Montana State Billings (4-9, 2-2 GNAC) on Friday night (7 pm MT/6 pm PT) in Alterowitz Gym on the MSUB campus.

 

WWU has now won its last 6 matches against Simon Fraser and 18 of the last 19 dating back to 2019 when SFU joined the GNAC. The Vikings lead the all-time series 67-34 and have now won 27 consecutive home matches vs. SFU dating back to the 1985 season.

 

Here is an early look at the GNAC standings through matches played on Tuesday:

 

 

WWU is 13-0 on the season, tying the best start to a season in program history. The 2008 team, which was also coming off a national runner-up finish in the previous season, was also 13-0.

 

The Vikings have now won 43 of their last 44 matches dating back to last season. WWU is also 70-8 (.897) dating back to the start of the 2017 season.

 

Fans can follow WWU Volleyball online at WWUVikings.com/VB, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUVolleyball), Instagram (@WWUVB) and Facebook (@WWUVolleyball). All home matches feature a live webcast, as well as most road matches, with links on how to follow the games available at WWUVikings.com/Live.

 

The WWU volleyball program has risen to elite level by advancing to the NCAA Division II Championships in each of the last seven seasons and 13 of the last 18 dating back to the 2001 season. The winner of nine Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships, Western won the 2018 GNAC title with a perfect 20-0 record and the 2017 championship by posting a 19-1 league. Led by 20^th-year head coach Diane Flick-Williams, the Vikings have played in the NCAA II West Region championship match each of the last four seasons (2015-18), winning titles in 2015 and 2018. WWU played for the NCAA II national championship in 2007 and 2018, both national runner-up finishes, have advanced to the NCAA Final Four in two of the past four seasons (2015 and 2015).