BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The No. 19 nationally-ranked Western Washington University volleyball team won its eighth consecutive match, defeating in-state rival Central Washington University in a 3-0 sweep Saturday evening on Pink Night inside Carver Gym.
 
The Vikings improved to 13-4 overall and remained in a first-place tie in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with the 25-13, 25-22, 25-22 victory on WECU Court. CWU dropped its fourth match in the last six contests to fall to 10-7 overall and 6-5 in GNAC play.
 
Playing in a match to raise awareness for Breast Cancer Research, the Vikings donned their white jerseys with pink lettering. Sophomore setter Malia Aleaga penned a letter to her late mother, Kelli, who lost a courageous battle to cancer in March 2020. During player introductions, all WWU team members were announced with who they were playing tonight's match for, and delivered flowers to Aleaga.
 
"I am super proud of Malia for wanting to honor her mother on Pink Night and for opening herself up to being vulnerable on a night like tonight," said WWU head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "Her mom would be proud of her tonight for the way she handled things and for the way she played. Malia is one strong young lady."
 
The Vikings completed their fourth consecutive 3-0 sweep behind a balanced team effort and a .260 team hitting percentage. WWU entered the week ranked No. 4 nationally in blocks per set, and won the battle at the net against the Wildcats 8.0-to-5.0 in team blocks.
 
"The team played free, because they were playing for something bigger than themselves," said Flick-Williams. "They have prepared really well lately, but tonight there was a little extra motivation with Pink Night and honoring Malia and her family. That is what this night has always been about, rallying around our community for a very important message."
 
Junior middle Chloe Roetcisoender led the Vikings with 14.5 total points, contributing 10 kills on a .429 hitting percentage, four blocks and a career-high two service aces. Junior middle Olivia Fairchild turned in another dominating performance with 11 kills on a .529 hitting percentage and tallied four blocks.
 
"Our middles – Chloe and Olivia – were just awesome tonight on both offense and defense," commented Flick-Williams. "They worked really hard to be available and hit the ball so well. Olivia really turned it up in the final set and what a punctuation mark with the two blocks to end the match."
 
Junior outside hitter Gabby Gunterman recorded a match-high 12 kills on a .270 hitting percentage, adding 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Calley Heilborn anchored a strong defensive effort with 23 digs.
 
Making her first start since late September due to injury, Aleaga ran the offense with efficiency recording 38 assists and neared a double-double with seven digs and three blocks.
 
The Wildcats were led by 10 kills and 14 digs from outside hitter Ashley Kaufman and 22 digs by libero Hannah Stires.
 
WWU (13-4, 9-1) take its eight-match winning streak back to the road for a pair of matches next week in Alaska, beginning Thursday at Alaska Fairbanks and Saturday at Alaska Anchorage for a battle of first-place teams.
 
"We are working really hard on improving each match, especially as we get into the second half of conference play," said Flick-Williams. "Each match is a test, so we are going to focus on getting better in practice with the goal of being a better version of ourselves each time we take the court. There is a lot of the season left, but we are looking forward to the challenge that awaits us on the road in Alaska."

VB🏐| SCENES FROM CARVER

Scenes from early action here in Carver where the Vikings are taking on Central Washington.

📸: @christiano_s17 #WeAreVikings x #GoViks pic.twitter.com/7Yj9Gk0KTa
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) October 24, 2021

  SET 1 (WWU 25, CWU 13): The Vikings broke free from a 3-3 tie early in the first set, going on a 13-2 run and cruised to the 25-13 victory to go up 1-0 in the match. Roetcisoender led WWU with five kills in the set on a .625 hitting percentage and the Vikings had five service aces, with a pair by Roetcisoender.
 
SET 2 (WWU 25, CWU 22): The Vikings pulled away late for a 25-22 win in the second set to go up 2-0 in the set. WWU held a lead for nearly the entire set, with CWU pulling to within two points several times, including late at 23-21 and 24-22. Gunterman led the Vikings with seven kills on a .538 hitting percentage in the set, also recording a pair of blocks and four digs. Heilborn had seven digs to lead WWU's defensive effort in the stanza.
 
SET 3 (WWU 25, CWU 22): WWU battled back from a 5-point deficit at 18-13, going on a 7-2 run to pull even at 20-20. After tie scores at 21-21 and 22-22, the Vikings prevailed going on a 3-0 run to complete the sweep. Fairchild had six kills and recorded blocks on the 24th and 25th points of the set to extend WWU's winning streak to eight consecutive matches.
  The Vikings (13-4, 9-1 GNAC) return to the road next week with the annual trip to Alaska, facing Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday and Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. Both matches feature a 7 pm first serve in Alaska, which will be at 8 pm Bellingham time. The complete 2021 WWU Volleyball schedule, complete with results and links to follow matches live, can be found online at wwuvikings.com/VB.
  Kills - Gunterman (12), Fairchild (11), Roetcisoender (10)
Aces  - Lologo (2), Roetcisoender (2), Aleaga (1)
Blocks  - Roetcisoender (4), Fairchild (4), Aleaga (3)
Assists  - Aleaga (38), Woodruff (3)
Digs  - Heilborn (23), Gunterman (10), Woodruff (10)
Points - Roetcisoender (14.5), Gunterman (14.5), Fairchild (13.0), Heilborn (6.0)
  WWU avenged its 3-1 loss on September 23 in Ellensburg with tonight's 3-0 sweep…WWU has won 11 of the last 12 vs. the Wildcats dating back to the 2016 season…WWU leads the all-time series 76-44-1 and won each of the last seven match-ups in Bellingham (15 straight in Carver Gym).
  WWU improved to 8-0 in home matches on WECU Court in Carver Gym this season, after going 8-0 during the abbreviated spring season. The Vikings own an all-time 292-82 (.781) record in the on-campus facility and since moving back into the renovated facility in 2017, WWU is 48-1. Western is 177-16 (.917) all-time in Carver Gym in the 22 seasons that head coach Diane Flick-Williams has led the program. WWU's last loss in Carver Gym was a five-set thriller vs. UAA on November 14, 2019, and has since won 17 consecutive matches in Bellingham.
  Here is a match-by-match look at the 2021 season through the first 17 matches of the season:
 

Date	Opponent		Score	Score-by-set
9/3	Sonoma State	W	3-1	26-24,23-25,25-18,25-18
9/4	MSU Denver (#11)	W	3-2	25-21,24-26,18-25,30-28,15-7
9/5	Chaminade	W	3-1	25-20,22-25,25-23,25-18
9/10	vs. Wayne State (#17)	L	0-3	22-25,17-25,22-25
9/10	vs. Lewis (#5)	L	0-3	16-25,24-26,16-25
9/11	vs. Lynn (RV)	W	3-2	22-25,25-16,23-25,25-20,15-11
9/11	vs. Cal State San Bernardino (#6)	L	2-3	23-25,35-33,25-17,21-25,13-15
9/18	at Simon Fraser* (#20)	W	3-2	25-13,19-25,20-25,25-23,15-9
9/23	at Central Washington*	L	1-3	13-25,25-19,15-25,23-25
9/25	at Northwest Nazarene*	W	3-1	25-13,25-27,25-22,25-22
10/2	Alaska Fairbanks*	W	3-2	25-13,20-25,25-23,23-25,15-13
10/7	at Western Oregon*	W	3-1	25-12,23-25,25-20,25-17
10/9	at Saint Martin's*	W	3-1	25-19,25-17,21-25,25-19
10/14	Seattle Pacific*	W	3-0	25-22,27-25,25-22
10/16	Montana State Billings*	W	3-0	25-17,25-11,25-18
10/21	Northwest Nazarene*	W	3-0	25-14,25-14,25-12
10/23	Central Washington*	W	3-0	25-13,25-22,25-22

  WWU is 13-4 overall and 9-1 in GNAC play, going 4-2 in three-set matches, 5-1 in four-set contests and 4-1 in five sets. Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2021 season:
 

2021 RECORD BREAKDOWN
Overall Record	13-4
Streak	W8
Home	8-0
Away	4-1
Neutral	1-3
GNAC Record	9-1
3-Set Matches	4-2
4-Set Matches	5-1
5-Set Matches	4-1
Ranked Opponents	2-3
Record by Jersey
Navy Blue	4-1
White	2-0
Light Blue	4-2
Dark Gray	3-1

  The Vikings have now won 79 of their last 92 matches dating back to the 2018 season (79-13/.859) when the Vikings were the NCAA II national runner-up. WWU is also 106-17 (.862) dating back to the start of the 2017 season.
  Here is a look at the 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings following play on Saturday, with the Vikings remaining in a first-place tie in the conference standings with Alaska Anchorage:
 

2021 STANDINGS		CONF	PCT	OVERALL	PCT	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL	STREAK
1.	Western Washington	9-1	.900	13-4	.765	8-0	4-1	1-3	Won 8
	Alaska Anchorage	9-1	.900	16-6	.727	8-1	7-2	1-3	Won 1
3.	Simon Fraser	8-3	.727	14-4	.778	5-2	4-1	5-1	Won 6
4.	Seattle Pacific	7-4	.636	11-7	.611	9-0	1-5	1-2	Won 2
5.	Central Washington	6-5	.545	10-7	.588	8-0	1-5	1-2	Lost 2
	Alaska Fairbanks	6-5	.545	13-10	.565	7-1	4-7	2-2	Lost 3
7.	Montana State Billings	4-7	.364	8-12	.400	8-4	0-6	0-2	Lost 1
8.	Saint Martin's	2-8	.200	9-11	.450	2-4	2-5	5-2	Won 2
9.	Northwest Nazarene	2-9	.182	4-14	.222	2-2	1-12	1-0	Lost 2
10	Western Oregon	0-10	.000	2-16	.111	0-5	0-6	2-4	Lost 13
Saturday's GNAC Results at #19 Western Washington 3, Central Washington 0 #24 Alaska Anchorage 3, at Montana State Billings 0 at Simon Fraser 3, Northwest Nazarene 2 at Seattle Pacific 3, Alaska Fairbanks 2 at Saint Martin's 3, Western Oregon 0

  Saturday's match vs. Central Washington featured the annual Pink Night, with the volleyball program helping the community highlight breast cancer awareness. WWU wore special white jerseys with pink numbers and there will be a special pre-match ceremony honoring the mother of setter Malia Aleaga, who passed away from cancer in 2020.
  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.
  Currently in its 50th season as a varsity intercollegiate sport at WWU, the Western volleyball program has risen to elite level by advancing to the NCAA Division II Championships in each of the last eight seasons and 14 of the last 19 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 became a 3-peat champion with an 18-2 mark in 2019. Led by 22nd-year head coach Diane Flick-Williams (473-116/.803) the Vikings have posted a 224-46 record over the last 10 seasons (.830 winning percentage) and have played in the NCAA II West Region championship match four of the last five 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, and have advanced to the NCAA Final Four in two of the past five seasons (2015 and 2018).