BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University volleyball team opened the 2025 season battling No. 11 nationally ranked Cal Poly Pomona, falling in four sets to cap the first day of the WWU Invitational on WECU Court in Carver Gym.
Game scores were 27-25, 25-16, 21-25, 25-13 in favor of the Broncos, a program that hosted the West Regional Tournament in 2024.
The six-team, 10-match WWU Invitational continues Friday with four matches in Carver Gym, capped by the Vikings hosting No. 3 San Francisco State in the 7 pm match.
Senior outside hitter Devyn Oestreich led the Vikings with a career-high 20 kills, logging a double-double with 11 digs. Junior Delaney Speer led the team with 16 digs to go with eight kills and redshirt freshman Violet Burchak tallied six kills in her collegiate debut. Redshirt freshman middle Teya Zaddack led all players with six blocks.
"I thought tonight was a great start for our team. Pomona is a good, experienced team and we did a good job of battling point for point," said WWU head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "We just needed that extra play and that's what learning and growing is all about. Devyn (Oestreich) was outstanding all around. It was not only a great day production wise her presence was so steady for us."
Cal Poly Pomona (1-0) was led by a 17-kill, 17-dig double-double by Sarah Ybarra and 13 kills and 23 digs by Charlotte Koerber.
The Vikings (0-1) are back in action Friday evening hosting No. 4 and defending West Region champion San Francisco State (0-1) at 7 pm to cap the second day of the WWU Invitational inside Carver Gym.
Here is a look at the schedule and results for the 2025 WWU Volleyball Invitational:
|
Thursday, September 4
|
|
3:00 PM
|
Central Washington 3, #4 San Francisco State 1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-20)
|
|
5:00 PM
|
Simon Fraser 3, #3 St. Cloud State 0 (25-11, 27-25, 25-23) in Burnaby, BC
|
|
6:00 PM
|
#11 Cal Poly Pomona 3, Western Washington 1 (27-25, 25-16, 21-25, 25-12)
|
|
Friday, September 5
|
|
11:00 AM
|
#3 St. Cloud State vs. #4 San Francisco State
|
|
1:30 PM
|
#11 Cal Poly Pomona vs. Central Washington
|
|
4:30 PM
|
#4 San Francisco State vs. Simon Fraser
|
|
7:00 PM
|
Western Washington vs. #3 St. Cloud State
|
|
Saturday, September 6
|
|
11:00 AM
|
Central Washington vs. #3 St. Cloud State
|
|
1:30 PM
|
Simon Fraser vs. #11 Cal Poly Pomona
|
|
4:00 PM
|
Western Washington vs. #4 San Francisco State
|
Kills – Oestreich (20), Speer (8), Burchak (6)
Aces – Holland (1), Flick-Williams (1)
Blocks – Zaddack (6), Vossenkuhl (4), May (3)
Assists – Hansen (19), Holland (11), Claeys (3)
Digs – Speer (16), Claeys (15), Hansen (12), Oestreich (11)
Points – Oestreich (21.0), Speer (9.0), Burchak (7.5), May (6.5)
Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and Cal Poly Pomona:
|
COMPARISON
|
WWU
|
CPP
|
|
Attack Pct.
|
.120 (41-21-166)
|
.196 (56-24-163)
|
|
Kills
|
41
|
56
|
|
Assists
|
36
|
53
|
|
Service Aces
|
2
|
5
|
|
Solo Blocks
|
0
|
3
|
|
Block Assists
|
20
|
12
|
|
Total Blocks
|
10.0
|
9.0
|
|
Tie Scores: 27 Lead Changes: 14
|
Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2025 season:
|
2025 RECORD BREAKDOWN
|
|
Overall Record
|
0-1
|
|
Streak
|
L1
|
|
Home
|
0-1
|
|
Away
|
0-0
|
|
Neutral
|
0-0
|
|
GNAC Record
|
0-0
|
|
Non-Conference
|
0-1
|
|
3-Set Matches
|
0-0
|
|
4-Set Matches
|
0-1
|
|
5-Set Matches
|
0-0
|
|
Ranked Opponents
|
0-0
|
|
Winning First Set
|
0-0
|
|
Dropping First Set
|
0-1
|
|
Record by Jersey
|
|
White
|
0-0
|
|
Light Blue
|
0-0
|
|
Dark Gray
|
0-0
|
|
Navy Blue
|
0-0
|
|
Light Gray
|
0-1
|
After not hosting a season opener at home from 1978-2020…the Vikings are starting a season in Carver Gym for the fourth time in the last five years. We had to dig far back through the Paul Madison history files to identify that prior to the 2021 WWU Invitational, the previous time the WWU Volleyball program opened a season on its home court was in 1978.
