BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University volleyball served its way to a 3-0 sweep over visiting Saint Martin's University Saturday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on WECU Court in Carver Gym.
The Vikings recorded a season-high 12 service aces and featured a balanced offensive attack in the 25-15, 25-15, 25-20 victory. WWU evened its season record at 9-9 overall and improved to 8-3 in GNAC play to remain in 4th place in the conference standings.
Sophomore outside hitter Delaney Speer recorded half of the Vikings aces tallying a single-match career high. The six aces are tied for seventh-most in a three-set match by a Viking during the NCAA era (since 1998). Speer also contributed five kills and finished with 13 digs for 11.5 points.
Junior outside hitter Devyn Oestreich tallied seven kills, four aces and one block assist to match Speer with 11.5 points. Sophomore middle Emily Vossenkuhl (7 kills, 4 blocks) and junior opposite Janelle Grant (8 kills, .538) helped form a well-rounded team effort with a .276 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Caroline Hansen (17 assists) and junior Adele Holland (14 assists) ran a balanced offense with six players recording five or more kills. Sophomore libero Finnley Claeys led the team with 14 digs and Holland added 12 digs for the double-double.
"Tonight was a great team win with a lot of bright moments," said WWU head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "The D's (Delaney and Devyn) were stellar from the service line. Janelle, Abby and Dani were great on the attack. Finnley, Adele and Delaney were holding down the court on the defensive end behind the blocks of Voss and Dani. All around…a great team win."
Saint Martin's (5-16, 3-10 GNAC) was led by seven kills on a .429 hitting percentage by Kingsley Mason.
Gallery: (11-2-2024) VB | WWU 3, SMU 0
The Vikings (9-9, 8-4 GNAC) are back on the road next week traveling to play at Montana State Billings on Thursday (7 pm MT) and Seattle Pacific on Saturday (1 pm). Live coverage links to watch and follow the Vikings on the road are available at wwuvikings.com/Live.
Kills – Grant (8), Oestreich (7), Vossenkuhl (7)
Aces – Speer (6), Oestreich (4), VanderYacht (1), Vossenkuhl (1)
Blocks – Vossenkuhl (4), May (3), Johnson (3)
Assists – Hansen (17), Holland (14)
Digs – Claeys (14), Speer (13), Holland (12)
Points – Speer (11.5), Oestreich (11.5), Vossenkuhl (10.5), Grant (8.5)
Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and Saint Martin's:
|
COMPARISON
|
WWU
|
SMU
|
|
Attack Pct.
|
.276 (40-11-105)
|
.031 (22-19-96)
|
|
Kills
|
40
|
22
|
|
Assists
|
34
|
18
|
|
Service Aces
|
12
|
5
|
|
Solo Blocks
|
1
|
0
|
|
Block Assists
|
12
|
2
|
|
Total Blocks
|
7.0
|
1.0
|
|
Digs
|
51
|
51
|
|
Tie Scores: 10 Lead Changes: 6
|
Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2024 season:
|
2024 RECORD BREAKDOWN
|
|
Overall Record
|
9-9
|
|
Streak
|
W2
|
|
Home
|
6-4
|
|
Away
|
3-2
|
|
Neutral
|
0-3
|
|
GNAC Record
|
8-4
|
|
Non-Conference
|
1-5
|
|
3-Set Matches
|
7-6
|
|
4-Set Matches
|
1-1
|
|
5-Set Matches
|
1-2
|
|
Ranked Opponents
|
0-4
|
|
Winning First Set
|
8-2
|
|
Dropping First Set
|
1-7
|
|
Record by Jersey
|
|
White
|
4-2
|
|
Light Blue
|
0-4
|
|
Dark Gray
|
0-0
|
|
Navy Blue
|
5-3
|
2024 GNAC STANDINGS & WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Here is a look at the updated GNAC Volleyball standings and weekly following play on Saturday to complete the seventh week of the conference slate. Updated conference standings, results, schedule and statistics can be found online at GNACSports.com.
|
Rk
|
School
|
GNAC
|
Pct.
|
Overall
|
Pct.
|
Home
|
Away
|
Neutral
|
Streak
|
L10
|
|
1.
|
Simon Fraser
|
11-1
|
.917
|
15-4
|
.789
|
7-0
|
5-1
|
3-3
|
W9
|
9-1
|
|
2.
|
Central Washington
|
10-2
|
.833
|
12-6
|
.667
|
5-3
|
6-1
|
1-2
|
W2
|
8-2
|
|
3.
|
Alaska Fairbanks
|
9-4
|
.692
|
17-6
|
.739
|
7-3
|
8-2
|
2-1
|
W5
|
7-3
|
|
4.
|
Western Washington
|
8-4
|
.667
|
9-9
|
.500
|
6-4
|
3-2
|
0-3
|
W2
|
7-3
|
|
5.
|
Alaska Anchorage
|
7-6
|
.538
|
13-10
|
.565
|
4-2
|
5-5
|
4-3
|
W3
|
6-4
|
|
|
Seattle Pacific
|
6-7
|
.462
|
6-15
|
.286
|
4-2
|
2-6
|
0-7
|
L2
|
5-5
|
|
7.
|
Western Oregon
|
5-8
|
.385
|
13-9
|
.591
|
3-4
|
4-5
|
6-0
|
L3
|
4-6
|
|
8.
|
Northwest Nazarene
|
4-8
|
.333
|
7-13
|
.350
|
4-5
|
2-7
|
1-1
|
L2
|
4-6
|
|
9.
|
Saint Martin's
|
3-10
|
.231
|
5-16
|
.238
|
1-6
|
2-4
|
2-6
|
L5
|
2-8
|
|
10.
|
Montana State Billings
|
0-13
|
.000
|
7-16
|
.304
|
4-8
|
2-6
|
1-2
|
L6
|
1-9
|
|
This Week's GNAC Schedule
|
|
Thursday, October 31:
at Western Washington 3, Western Oregon 1
at Simon Fraser 3, Saint Martin's 0
at Alaska Fairbanks 3, Montana State Billings 0
at Alaska Anchorage 3, Seattle Pacific 0
Saturday, November 2:
at Central Washington 3, Northwest Nazarene 1
at Alaska Fairbanks 3, Seattle Pacific 2
at Simon Fraser 3, Western Oregon 1
at Western Washington 3, Saint Martin's 0
at Alaska Anchorage 3, Montana State Billings 0
|
SERIES HISTORY VS. SAINT MARTIN'S
WWU swept the season series against Saint Martin's also picking up a 3-0 victory October 3 in Lacey (25-17, 29-27, 25-23). The Vikings improved to 70-6 all-time vs. Saint Martin's.
Saturday's match vs. Saint Martin's was the WW-Unity match with the theme of coming together and celebrating our community at Western. The WWU Athletics and the Athletics JEDI Committee has been working towards creating an inclusive space within athletics where student-athletes, faculty, staff, and all members of the WWU community feel welcomed, safe, valued, seen, heard, and respected - empowering everyone to show up as their authentic selves. Saturday's match also welcomed honorary coach Jacqueline Hughes, WWU's Chief Diversity Officer.
Here is a match-by-match look at the 2024 season with current results and the schedule:
|
Date
|
Opponent
|
|
Score
|
Score-by-set
|
|
WWU Invitational (Bellingham, WA)
|
|
9/5
|
Sonoma State
|
W
|
3-0
|
28-26,25-18,25-22
|
|
9/6
|
MSU Denver (#7)
|
L
|
0-3
|
14-25,22-25,20-25
|
|
9/7
|
San Francisco State
|
L
|
0-3
|
15-25,18-25,21-25
|
|
CWU Invitational (Ellensburg, WA)
|
|
9/12
|
Cal State San Bernardino (#16)
|
L
|
0-3
|
17-25,23-25,18-25
|
|
9/13
|
Cal State LA (#11)
|
L
|
0-3
|
15-25,24-26,15-25
|
|
9/14
|
Cal Poly Pomona (#10)
|
L
|
0-3
|
12-25,12-25,22-25
|
|
Great Northwest Athletic Conference
|
|
9/19
|
Alaska Fairbanks (GNAC)
|
L
|
2-3
|
25-18,15-25,21-25,25-22,13-15
|
|
9/21
|
Alaska Anchorage (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-2
|
22-25,22-25,25-20,25-20,15-9
|
|
9/27
|
Simon Fraser (GNAC) (RV)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-19,25-21,25-21
|
|
10/3
|
@Saint Martin's (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-17,29-27,25-23
|
|
10/5
|
@Western Oregon (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-18,25-22,25-20
|
|
10/10
|
Seattle Pacific (GNAC)
|
L
|
2-3
|
25-19,25-20,23-25,21-25,12-15
|
|
10/12
|
Montana State Billings (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-21,25-17,25-20
|
|
10/17
|
@Northwest Nazarene (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-18,25-20,25-20
|
|
10/19
|
@Central Washington (GNAC)
|
L
|
0-3
|
18-25,13-25,16-25
|
|
10/26
|
@Simon Fraser (GNAC)
|
L
|
1-3
|
19-25,25-21,22-25,23-25
|
|
10/31
|
Western Oregon (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-1
|
25-18,21-25,25-22,25-17
|
|
11/2
|
Saint Martin's (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-15,25-15,25-20
|
|
11/7
|
@Montana State Billings (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm MT
|
|
11/9
|
@Seattle Pacific (GNAC)
|
|
|
1:00 pm
|
|
11/14
|
Central Washington (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm
|
|
11/16
|
Northwest Nazarene (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm
|
|
11/21
|
@Alaska Anchorage (GNAC)
|
|
|
11:00 am AKT
|
|
11/23
|
@Alaska Fairbanks (GNAC)
|
|
|
2:00 pm AKT
|
Fans can follow WWU Volleyball online at WWUVikings.com/VB, and via social media on 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 54th season as a varsity intercollegiate sport in 2024, rising to an elite level by advancing to the NCAA Division II Championships in 10 of the last 11 seasons and 16 of the last 22 dating back to the 2001 season. The program has recorded 1,033 all-time wins (1033-601-7). The winner of 11 Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the Vikings have four of the last seven GNAC titles with a 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 25th-year head coach Diane Flick-Williams (527-146) the Vikings have posted a 278-76 record over the last 13 seasons and played in the NCAA II West Region championship match five out of the last eight seasons, 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 eight seasons (2015, 2018, 2021).
