Central Washington Rolls to 3-0 Victory Over Wolves

The win moved CWU’s record to 17-5 on the season and 8-4 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Western Oregon dropped to 6-16 overall and to 4-8 in the GNAC.

Stephanie Powell Photo courtesy: Central Washington University

MONMOUTH - No. 8 regionally ranked Central Washington kept its’ post-season hopes alive with a 3-0 sweep over Western Oregon, topping the Wolves 30-25, 30-18, 30-27 in front of 410 fans on Thursday night at the Physical Education Building.

Central Washington’s Stephanie Powell had 15 kills to lead all players, while Rachael Schurman added 12 and Kristin Pasley added 11 for the visitors. Erika Stevens had 22 digs for CWU.

Shakira Jenkins had 10 kills to lead the Wolves, while Jessica Baty had 14 digs for the hosts. Lisa Martini had five blocks.

In game one, the host Wolves rushed out to an 8-3 lead, scoring four of those point on blocks. WOU never trailed until the Wildcats inched back to 20-20. But Central caught fire and scored the final seven points of the game, including the final two service aces by Erin Norris (30-25).

Central led for virtually all of game two, hitting .447 with five kills each from Kristin Pasley and Rachael Schurman. Stephanie Powell added four put-aways in the second game, as the Wildcats won, 30-18.

It was a similar story for game three, with the Wolves holding only an early lead before the Wildcats took over. After a 5-4 lead, WOU would never lead again. CWU hit .289 and Powell had seven kills in that game and Erika Stevens had nine digs.

The Wildcats are in third place in conference play and list eighth in the latest NCAA Division II Pacific Region poll.

The top eight teams in the final poll advance to the NCAA tournament.

The Wolves will now hit the road, traveling to Nampa, Idaho for a Saturday night match-up with Northwest Nazarene 7:00 PM MST.

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