ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The No. 6 nationally-ranked Western Washington University volleyball team swept in-state rival Central Washington Thursday evening in Nicholson Pavilion to clinch at least a share of the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference title.
The Vikings defeated the Wildcats by scores of 25-19, 28-26, 25-20 to sweep the season series against CWU and improve to 25-2 overall and 17-2 in league play. WWU now needs to defeat Northwest Nazarene in Saturday's regular-season finale or have Alaska Anchorage lose to Seattle Pacific to claim the outright title. This marks the third consecutive season the Vikings will claim the top spot in the conference, winning outright titles in 2017 and 2018.
"What a solid match tonight by our team tonight," said head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "Kayleigh and Chloe were outstanding. Malia fed them well and she was set up by some great serve receive. Super proud of the team to come in against a good opponent on the road and play well together."
Senior All-American middle Kayleigh Harper led the way for the Vikings with a match-high 16 kills on a .471 hitting percentage. She added 7 blocks (5 block assists, 2 block solo) and one service ace for 21.5 total points. The 6-3 middle took over in a tight second set, tallying half of her 16 kills in the set, including back-to-back spikes when the set was tied 26-26 for the 28-26 win to go up 2-0 in the match.
Sophomore middle Chloe Roetcisoender contributed 8 kills on a .421 attack percentage and recorded 3 block assists for 9.5 points. Sophomore outside hitter Gabby Gunterman had 7 kills and sophomore opposite Tess Biscup recorded 5 kills and 7 blocks.
Redshirt freshman outside hitter Calley Heilborn recorded a match-high-tying 21 digs and also had 7 kills. Senior libero Mae Thungc helped anchor the defense with 16 digs and redshirt freshman setter Malia Aleaga recorded a 35-assist, 13-dig double-double.
CWU (17-10, 12-7 GNAC) was led by 12 kills from junior outside hitter Makala Swart and 21 digs by senior libero Kyla Morgan.
WWU held the Wildcats to a .094 hitting percentage, while hitting at a .193 clip. The Vikings out-blocked CWU 11.0-5.0 and held a decisive 47-34 edge in kills. Each team had 6 service aces and 72 digs.
SET 1 (WWU 25, CWU 19): The Vikings jumped out to the 1-0 lead with a 25-19 opening-set victory, led by 4 kills and 3 blocks from Kayleigh Harper. Middle Chloe Roetcisoender added 4 kills on a .444 attack percentage and Gabby Gunterman added 3 kills. WWU capitalized on an early 5-0 run to pull away from a 3-3 tie and had a mid-set 8-1 run to cushion the lead to as many as 10 points. CWU went on a 7-2 run late to pull to within five points at 22-17, but the Vikings held off the late rally for the 25-19 win.
SET 2 (WWU 28, CWU 26): A back-and-forth second set featured seven tie scores and several long runs, but the Vikings prevailed with a 28-26 win to go up 2-0 in the match. WWU started off the second set in similar to the first, leading 4-1, but the Wildcats went on a 8-0 run to take a 9-4 lead. The Vikings chipped away at the deficit going on an 8-1 run to grab a 16-13 lead and held a 19-14 lead. CWU came out of its second timeout going on a 9-2 run and led 23-21, but the Vikings wouldn't back down tying the set at 23-23, 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26 before Kayleigh Harper notched back-to-back kills to end the set. Harper had 8 kills and 3 blocks to lead the Vikings in the frame.
SET 3 (WWU 25, CWU 20): The Vikings led wire-to-wire in the final set to clinch the 3-0 sweep with a 25-20 win. WWU pulled away with an early 5-1 run to build a 10-4 lead and extended the lead to 18-11 with another 5-1 spurt. CWU fended off three consecutive match points for the Vikings before Kayleigh Harper recorded her 16th and final kill of the match to seal the victory.
Kills - Harper (16), Roetcisoender (8), Gunterman (7)
Aces - Lologo (3), Harper (1), Thungc (1)
Blocks - Harper (7), Biscup (7), Roetcisoender (3)
Assists - Aleaga (35), Heilborn (3), Thungc (2)
Digs - Heilborn (21), Thungc (16), Aleaga (13)
Points - Harper (21.5), Roetcisoender (9.5), Biscup (9.0), Gunterman (8.0), Heilborn (7.5)
The Vikings (25-2, 17-2 GNAC) close out the regular season on Saturday with a road game at Northwest Nazarene (13-13, 9-10 GNAC) in Nampa, Idaho (7 pm MT/6 pm PT). The match vs. the Nighthawks will stream live and feature statistical updates at GNAC.tv.
The Vikings secured the season sweep over the Wildcats, also sweeping CWU 25-22, 25-21, 25-18 on Sept. 21 in Carver Gym during the opening week of the GNAC season. WWU has a current eight-match winning streak vs. CWU dating back to the 2016 season and leads the all-time series 73-43-1. Also won five consecutive matches in Nicholson Pavilion with Thursday's victory.
Here is an early look at the GNAC standings through matches played on Thursday, with WWU clinching at least a share of the 2019 conference title. A WWU on Saturday vs. NNU or a UAA loss will give the Vikings the outright title.
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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*
|
17-2
|
.895
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25-2
|
.926
|
9-1
|
9-1
|
7-0
|
Won 2
|
|
Alaska Anchorage
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16-3
|
.842
|
21-6
|
.778
|
10-3
|
8-3
|
3-0
|
Won 5
|
|
Simon Fraser
|
13-6
|
.684
|
17-10
|
.630
|
6-4
|
8-3
|
3-3
|
Won 1
|
|
Central Washington
|
12-7
|
.632
|
17-10
|
.630
|
7-2
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6-6
|
4-2
|
Lost 1
|
|
Alaska
|
11-7
|
.611
|
14-12
|
.538
|
5-3
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6-6
|
3-3
|
Lost 1
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|
Seattle Pacific
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9-9
|
.500
|
12-14
|
.462
|
4-7
|
6-4
|
2-4
|
Lost 1
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|
Northwest Nazarene
|
9-10
|
.474
|
13-13
|
.500
|
3-6
|
7-5
|
3-2
|
Lost 1
|
|
Concordia
|
8-11
|
.421
|
10-16
|
.384
|
5-7
|
3-8
|
2-1
|
Won 1
|
|
Montana State Billings
|
5-14
|
.263
|
8-21
|
.276
|
4-7
|
3-9
|
1-5
|
Lost 2
|
|
Western Oregon
|
3-17
|
.150
|
5-22
|
.185
|
2-8
|
1-10
|
2-4
|
Won 1
|
|
Saint Martin's
|
1-18
|
.053
|
1-27
|
.036
|
1-9
|
0-11
|
0-7
|
Lost 1
|
|
* Clinched share of GNAC championship
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Thursday's Results (home team in bold)
Western Washington 3, Central Washington 0
Western Oregon 3, Montana State Billings 2
Simon Fraser 3, Northwest Nazarene 0
Alaska Anchorage 3, Saint Martin's 0
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks (late result)
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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 10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships, Western won the 2018 GNAC title with a perfect 20-0 record, the 2017 championship by posting a 19-1 league and has clinched at least a share of the 2019 league championships. Over the last three seasons (includes 2019) the Vikings have combined to go 82-10 overall and 56-3 in conference play, and over the last five seasons are 132-24. Led by 20th-year head coach Diane Flick-Williams, the Vikings have posted a 200-39 record over the last eight seasons (.837 winning percentage) and 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).
