ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Western Washington University volleyball team continued its lengthy season-opening road trip, falling in four sets to in-state rival Central Washington University Thursday evening in the opening match of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season.
WWU dropped to 0-9 on the season with the 15-25, 15-25, 25-22, 23-25 defeat inside the CWU Student Recreation Center. CWU improved to 7-2 on the season with its seventh consecutive victory.
The Vikings were led by 11 kills from senior outside hitter Kylie Honrud (.381) and a career-high 10 kills from sophomore outside hitter Janelle Grant (.381). Redshirt freshman Delaney Speer added a 10-kill, 10-dig double-double for the Vikings and libero Finnley Claeys tallied nine digs and a pair of service aces.
"We are working on getting better with each match and we took a good step with tonight's match," said WWU head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "This young team has to go through these circumstances to get wisdom under their belts for our future. Kylie (Honrud) and Janelle (Grant) really brought it tonight and were anchors for us on offense."
CWU had four players reach double-figures in kills, led by 13 from Ashley Kaufman. Senior Tia Andaya tallied a triple-double with 11 kills, 11 digs and 36 assists.
The Vikings (0-9, 0-1 GNAC) close out their season-opening 10-match road trip Saturday traveling to play at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. WWU will take on NNU (5-4, 1-0 GNAC) on Saturday with first serve scheduled for 1 pm MT/12 pm PT inside the Johnson Sports Center. The complete 2023 WWU Volleyball schedule, with links to statistics, webcasts, live stats and more can be found online at wwuvikings.com/VB.
Kills – Honrud (11), Grant (10), Speer (10)
Aces – Claeys (2), Oestreich (1), Tri (1)
Blocks – Oestreich (3), Vossenkuhl (3), Kepley (2)
Assists – Holland (23), Hansen (14)
Digs – Oestreich (13), Speer (10), Holland (9), Claeys (9)
Points – Honrud (11.5), Grant (11.5), Speer (10.0), Oestreich (8.5)
Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and CWU:
|
COMPARISON
|
WWU
|
CWU
|
|
Attack Pct.
|
.179
|
.263
|
|
Kills
|
47
|
55
|
|
Assists
|
45
|
49
|
|
Service Aces
|
4
|
5
|
|
Solo Blocks
|
2
|
0
|
|
Block Assists
|
10
|
16
|
|
Total Blocks
|
7.0
|
8.0
|
|
Lead Changes: 7 Times Tied: 17
|
Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2023 season:
|
2023 RECORD BREAKDOWN
|
|
Overall Record
|
0-9
|
|
Streak
|
L9
|
|
Home
|
0-0
|
|
Away
|
0-3
|
|
Neutral
|
0-6
|
|
GNAC Record
|
0-1
|
|
Non-Conference
|
0-8
|
|
3-Set Matches
|
0-5
|
|
4-Set Matches
|
0-4
|
|
5-Set Matches
|
0-0
|
|
Ranked Opponents
|
0-7
|
|
Winning First Set
|
0-2
|
|
Dropping First Set
|
0-7
|
|
Record by Jersey
|
|
White
|
0-2
|
|
Light Blue
|
0-2
|
|
Dark Gray
|
0-2
|
|
Navy Blue
|
0-3
|
Here is a look at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings following the opening night of the 2023 conference season:
|
VOLLEYBALL
|
CONF
|
PCT
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
Central Washington
|
1-0
|
1.000
|
7-2
|
.778
|
1-0
|
1-1
|
5-1
|
W7
|
|
Seattle Pacific
|
1-0
|
1.000
|
7-2
|
.778
|
0-0
|
2-1
|
5-1
|
W6
|
|
Saint Martin's
|
1-0
|
1.000
|
6-3
|
.667
|
1-0
|
1-0
|
4-3
|
W1
|
|
Northwest Nazarene
|
1-0
|
1.000
|
5-4
|
.556
|
1-0
|
1-2
|
3-2
|
W1
|
|
Alaska Anchorage
|
1-0
|
1.000
|
5-7
|
.417
|
3-1
|
1-0
|
1-6
|
L3
|
|
Western Oregon
|
0-1
|
.000
|
6-3
|
.667
|
0-1
|
1-1
|
5-1
|
L1
|
|
Simon Fraser
|
0-1
|
.000
|
5-4
|
.556
|
0-0
|
2-3
|
3-1
|
L1
|
|
Alaska
|
0-1
|
.000
|
4-8
|
.333
|
3-5
|
0-0
|
1-3
|
W1
|
|
Montana State Billings
|
0-1
|
.000
|
2-7
|
.222
|
2-2
|
0-2
|
0-3
|
L6
|
|
Western Washington
|
0-1
|
.000
|
0-9
|
.000
|
0-0
|
0-3
|
0-6
|
L9
|
|
Thursday's Results
|
|
at Central Washington 3, Western Washington 1
at Saint Martin's 3, Montana State Billings 0
at Northwest Nazarene 3, Simon Fraser 0
Seattle Pacific 3, at Western Oregon 0
|
HOW TO SEE THE VIKINGS IN PERSON
After opening the 2023 season with 10 consecutive matches on the road, the Vikings will make its debut on WECU Court in Carver Gym on Thursday, September 21 hosting defending GNAC champion Alaska Anchorage. Season tickets for the Vikings nine home matches are currently on sale and can be purchased by calling the WWU Box Office at (360) 650-6103. Single-game tickets are also available at wwuvikings.com/Tickets. New for the 2023-24 season for all intercollegiate sports will be FREE STUDENT TICKETS at all events! The complete 2022 WWU Volleyball schedule can be viewed online and bookmarked for easy access at wwuvikings.com/23_VB.
Here is a match-by-match look at the 2023 season with current results and the schedule:
|
Date
|
Opponent
|
|
Score
|
Score-by-set
|
|
Yotes Classic Showcase (San Bernardino, CA)
|
|
8/31
|
Regis (#18)
|
L
|
3-1
|
22-25,25-20,15-25,20-25
|
|
8/31
|
Cal State San Bernardino (#19)
|
L
|
3-0
|
22-25,11-25,17-25
|
|
9/1
|
Cal State LA (#9)
|
L
|
3-0
|
17-25,15-25,18-25
|
|
9/2
|
MSU Denver (#3)
|
L
|
3-0
|
19-25,11-25,15-25
|
|
Colorado Premier Challenge (Denver, CO)
|
|
9/8
|
Ferris State (RV)
|
L
|
3-0
|
13-25,22-25,11-25
|
|
9/8
|
Concordia St. Paul (#2)
|
L
|
3-1
|
25-16,15-25,20-25,23-25
|
|
9/9
|
MSU Denver (#6)
|
L
|
3-0
|
20-25,14-25,13-25
|
|
9/9
|
Texas-Tyler (RV)
|
L
|
3-1
|
26-24,17-25,23-25,26-28
|
|
Great Northwest Athletic Conference
|
|
9/14
|
@Central Washington (#13) (GNAC)
|
L
|
3-1
|
15-25,15-25,25-22,23-25
|
|
9/16
|
@Northwest Nazarene (GNAC)
|
|
|
1:00 pm MT – Nampa, ID
|
|
9/21
|
Alaska Anchorage (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
|
9/23
|
Alaska Fairbanks (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
|
9/30
|
@Simon Fraser (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Burnaby, BC
|
|
10/5
|
@Seattle Pacific (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Seattle, WA
|
|
10/7
|
@MSU Billings (GNAC)
|
|
|
1:00 pm MT – Billings, MT
|
|
10/12
|
Saint Martin's (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
|
10/14
|
Western Oregon (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
|
10/19
|
@Alaska Fairbanks (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm AKT – Fairbanks, AK
|
|
10/21
|
@Alaska Anchorage (GNAC)
|
|
|
2:00 pm AKT – Anchorage, AK
|
|
10/28
|
Simon Fraser (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
|
11/2
|
MSU Billings (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
|
11/4
|
Seattle Pacific (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
|
11/9
|
@Western Oregon (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Monmouth, OR
|
|
11/11
|
@Saint Martin's (GNAC)
|
|
|
1:00 pm – Lacey, WA
|
|
11/16
|
Northwest Nazarene (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
|
11/18
|
Central Washington (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
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 is in its 52nd season as a varsity intercollegiate sport in 2023, rising to an elite level by advancing to the NCAA Division II Championships in each of the last 10 seasons and 16 of the last 21 dating back to the 2001 season. The program has recorded 1,012 all-time wins (1012-587-7). The winner of 11 Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the Vikings have four of the last five GNAC titles with a perfect 19-1 record in 2017, perfect 20-0 mark in 2018, an 18-2 league record in 2019 and clinched the four-peat with a 17-1 record in 2021. Led by 23rd-year head coach Diane Flick-Williams (506-132) the Vikings have posted a 257-62 record over the last 11 seasons and played in the NCAA II West Region championship match five out of the last seven seasons (2015-21), winning titles in 2015, 2018 and 2021 (also 2007). 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 three of the past six seasons (2015, 2018, 2021).
