FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The No. 14 nationally ranked Western Washington University volleyball team went on the road Thursday earning a statement victory in straight sets over No. 19 Alaska Fairbanks inside the Patty Center.
WWU handed UAF its first home loss in nine matches this season on Alaska Airlines Court, overcoming the adversity of an early 11 am start time playing in front of 1200 students from the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District on Elementary Field Day.
The Vikings won their fifth consecutive match to improve to 18-3 overall and remained atop the GNAC standings with a 12-2 record in conference matches. WWU defeated Fairbanks 25-17, 25-20, 25-20 to hand the Nanooks just their fourth loss of the season and second 3-0 sweep. The Vikings also earned a 3-0 sweep over UAF in the first meeting between the two schools October 11 in Carver Gym. Western is 5-2 against ranked opponents this season.
"This was a great team effort in a very difficult environment," said WWU head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "I am really proud of how our team leaned on each other and played well as a team."
Western earned the sweep with a dominating performance at the net, recording a 11.0-to-2.0 advantage in total blocks. Junior middle Emily Vossenkuhl led the blocking charge with six block assists, while redshirt freshman Teya Zaddack (5), senior Devyn Oestreich (4) and redshirt freshman Violet Burchak (4) also joined the block party.
Oestreich led the Vikings with 10 kills on a .304 hitting percentage and senior Abby May earned Player of the Match honors with eight kills on a .412 hitting percentage. Junior Delaney Speer added a team-high 19 digs to go with six kills and juniors Finnley Claeys and Caroline Hansen each tallied three service aces.
"Abby did an awesome job swinging from the start. Caroline and Finnley were great from the service line which set up our block pretty well," added Flick-Williams, who coached in her 700th career match in 26 seasons leading the program (548-152/.783). "Delaney was all over the back court and Devyn was steady. Again, it was a great team win. No stars here, just a galaxy."
UAF (19-4, 10-3 GNAC) had its five-match winning streak snapped with the loss. Cynphany Henderson led all players with 14 kills on a .522 hitting percentage.
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NCAA Volleyball
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
Final
|
|
#14 Western Washington (18-3, 12-2)
|
25
|
25
|
25
|
3
|
|
#19 Alaska Fairbanks (19-4, 10-3)
|
17
|
20
|
20
|
0
|
The Vikings (18-3, 12-2 GNAC) close out the road portion of the 2025 regular-season schedule Saturday facing Alaska Anchorage at 7 pm AKT/8 pm PT inside the Alaska Airlines Center. The match vs. the Seawolves will stream live on the GNAC Network with live coverage links at WWUVikings.com/Live. The complete 2025 season schedule can be viewed at WWUVikings.com/25_VB.
Kills – Oestreich (10), May (8), Speer (6), Vossenkuhl (5)
Aces – Claeys (3), Hansen (3), Oestreich (1)
Blocks – Vossenkuhl (6), Zaddack (5), Oestreich (4), Burchak (4)
Assists – Hansen (17), Holland (16), Claeys (2)
Digs – Speer (19), Claeys (8), Oestreich (5)
Points – Oestreich (13.0), May (8.5), Speer (8.0), Vossenkuhl (8.0), Burchak (6.0), Zaddack (5.5)
Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and Alaska Fairbanks:
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COMPARISON
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WWU
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UAF
|
|
Attack Pct.
|
.250 (36-11-100)
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.114 (35-22-114)
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|
Kills
|
36
|
35
|
|
Assists
|
36
|
31
|
|
Service Aces
|
8
|
5
|
|
Solo Blocks
|
0
|
0
|
|
Block Assists
|
22
|
4
|
|
Total Blocks
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11.0
|
2.0
|
|
Tie Scores: 17 Lead Changes: 7
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Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2025 season:
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2025 RECORD BREAKDOWN
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|
Overall Record
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18-3
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|
Streak
|
W5
|
|
Home
|
8-1
|
|
Away
|
8-2
|
|
Neutral
|
2-0
|
|
GNAC Record
|
12-2
|
|
Non-Conference
|
6-1
|
|
3-Set Matches
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9-1
|
|
4-Set Matches
|
8-1
|
|
5-Set Matches
|
1-1
|
|
Ranked Opponents
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5-2
|
|
Winning First Set
|
15-0
|
|
Dropping First Set
|
3-3
|
|
Record by Jersey
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|
White
|
3-0
|
|
Light Blue
|
7-1
|
|
Dark Gray
|
0-0
|
|
Navy Blue
|
4-0
|
|
Light Gray
|
4-2
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Here is a match-by-match look at the 2025 season with current results and the schedule:
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Date
|
Opponent
|
|
Score
|
Score-by-set
|
|
WWU Invitational (Bellingham, WA)
|
|
9/4
|
Cal Poly Pomona (#7)
|
L
|
1-3
|
25-27,16-25,25-21,12-25
|
|
9/5
|
St. Cloud State (#3)
|
W
|
3-1
|
21-25,25-23,26-24,25-16
|
|
9/6
|
San Francisco State (#4)
|
W
|
3-1
|
25-17,16-25,25-23,25-16
|
|
Aloha State Showdown (Honolulu, HI)
|
|
9/11
|
UC Merced
|
W
|
3-1
|
25-14,25-18,18-25,25-14
|
|
9/11
|
Chaminade (#24)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-19,25-19,25-22
|
|
9/12
|
Hawai'i Hilo
|
W
|
3-1
|
25-16,15-25,25-21,27-25
|
|
9/13
|
Hawai'i Pacific
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-14,25-19,25-22
|
|
Great Northwest Athletic Conference
|
|
9/18
|
@Northwest Nazarene (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-1
|
25-15,25-14,21-25,25-16
|
|
9/20
|
@Central Washington (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-2
|
23-25,25-23,25-20,21-25,15-11
|
|
9/25
|
Montana State Billings (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-7,34-32,25-12
|
|
9/27
|
Seattle Pacific (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-1
|
26-24,25-15,22-25,25-18
|
|
10/2
|
@Western Oregon (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
27-25,25-20,25-21
|
|
10/4
|
@Saint Martin's (GNAC)
|
L
|
0-3
|
15-25,14-25,17-25
|
|
10/9
|
Alaska Anchorage (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-1
|
27-25,21-25,25-13,28-26
|
|
10/11
|
Alaska Fairbanks (GNAC) (#18)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-23,25-21,25-15
|
|
10/17
|
@Simon Fraser (GNAC) (#9)
|
L
|
2-3
|
17-25,26-28,25-20,26-24,12-15
|
|
10/23
|
@Seattle Pacific (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-1
|
22-25,25-21,25-15,25-16
|
|
10/25
|
@Montana St. Billings (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-12, 25-15, 25-9
|
|
10/30
|
Saint Martin's (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-19,25-23,25-20
|
|
11/1
|
Western Oregon (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-15,25-18,25-13
|
|
11/6
|
@Alaska Fairbanks (GNAC) (#19)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-17,25-20,25-20
|
|
11/8
|
@Alaska Anchorage (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm AKT
|
|
11/15
|
Simon Fraser (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm
|
|
11/20
|
Central Washington (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm
|
|
11/22
|
Northwest Nazarene (GNAC)
|
|
|
5:00 pm
|
