Sep. 20, 2017
CWU Volleyball Continues GNAC Play in Oregon
The Central Washington Wildcats (6-4, 1-1) continue GNAC Play this week, traveling south to battle Concordia University-Portland (6-3, 1-1) this Thursday, Sept. 21. First serve against the Cavaliers is set for 5:30 p.m. in LCEF Court. The Wildcats will then head to Monmouth, Ore. to face Western Oregon University (5-4, 1-1) on Saturday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.
CWU is coming off a 3-1 win against the Simon Fraser University last Saturday behind 14 kills and 15 digs by Shelby Mauritson. The Wildcats fell to in-state rival, No. 10 Western Washington University, 1-3 earlier in the week.
The Wildcats enter the week ranked fifth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 1-1 conference record. CWU ranks first in blocks (2.79/set), third in opponent hitting percentage (.158), third in assists (12.15/set), fourth in hitting percentage (.210) and fifth in kills (12.79/set).
CWU LEADERS
Junior Shelby Mauritson leads the team and ranks sixth in the conference with 135 kills and a 3.46 kills per set average. She also ranks second on the team with 137 digs (3.51 digs/set).
Junior Maggie McTaggart follows with 94 kills and ranks second on the team with 2.54 kills per set. Senior Sabrina Wheelhouse has tallied 76 kills (1.95 kills/set) and ranks first on the team with a .333 hitting percentage. Wheelhouse also leads the team at the net with 56 total blocks (1.44 blocks/set), while senior Sara Joffs follows with 34 total blocks (1.26 blocks/set).
Sophomore Niki Cook has tallied a team-high 214 assists and 5.49 assists per set average. Sophomore Gabrielle Aihara has registered 204 assists and 5.23 assists per set average.
Leading the Wildcats in digs is sophomore libero Kyla Morgan with a total of 183 (4.69 digs/set), which ranks sixth in the conference.
WILDCATS RECEIVE VOTES IN LATEST AVCA POLL
Coming off a 1-1 week, the Central Washington Wildcats received 36 votes in the latest AVCA Top-25 Poll, which ranks seventh among teams that just missed making the top-25.
NCAA STATISTICAL LEADERS
CWU enters the week ranked first in the GNAC and third in the nation with 199 total blocks. The Wildcats also rank fourth in the nation with 2.79 blocks per set.
Wheelhouse ranks first in the GNAC and fifth in the nation in blocks per set (1.44), and first in the league and sixth in the nation in total blocks (56). Wheelhouse also ranks second in the GNAC with a .333 hitting percentage.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Concordia Cavaliers
Concordia faced Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's to open GNAC Play. The Cavaliers beat Seattle Pacific in four sets on Thursday, but fell to SMU on Saturday in four sets. Concordia continues conference play with a 6-3 record on the season. Concordia has a balanced offense with four players averaging at least 2.32 kills/set. Senior Lindsey Dorsey leads the team with 3.26 kills/set, while also tallying 17 service aces on the season. Senior Michele Brown dishes out 10.80 assists per set for Concordia, totaling 270 on the season. Defensively, senior Colby Barnette leads the team with 39 blocks, and sophomore Anna Dols averages 3.76 digs/set.
Western Oregon Wolves
Western Oregon opened conference play by mirroring CU. The Wolves picked up a 3-0 sweep over Saint Martin's University, before following to Seattle Pacific 0-3 on Saturday. WOU is 5-4 on the season, winning three of their opening four matches against Lubbock Christian, Westminster and Cal State San Marcos. Senior outside hitter Alisha Bettinson pace the Wolves 140 kills on the season (4.12 kills/set), while Leila Holt and Maddie Mehciz runs the offense for WOU dishing out 187 and 173 assists, respectively. Junior Makenzie Bowen leads the defense with 160 digs.