Western Washington University’s women's volleyball team kept the heat on, defeating Northwest Nazarene University with a 3-0 game inside Sam Carver Gymnasium, Oct. 21.
The last time Western faced NNU was Sept. 25; the game resulted in a 3-0 victory for the Vikings.
Western was coming into the game riding a six-game winning streak and looking to extend the streak to seven games.
The vikings started the first game serving and got a quick strike for a score.
Towards the end of the first game Caroline McMahon, a sophomore at NNU saved a point with a single-fisted bump leading to a block by NNU for the point.
Game one ended in a 25-14 score with a Western win.
Game two started with a serve by Molly Anderson, a freshman at NNU, which immediately went out of bounds.
McMahon attempted a diving bump to save the score, but the ball ultimately went into the net.
Anna Gable, a red-shirt junior at NNU bumped the ball into the stands resulting in a point for Western.
NNU scored five of the next six points, but the streak was broken by a Western block.
Gabby Kepley, a red-shirt freshman Western pin hitter, gave a block to end the second game with a Western win of 25-14.
Game three started with a serve from freshman Adele Holland, setter for Western, which resulted in a score by Western middle Olivia Fairchild, a junior.
Western started game number three hot, with three scores in a row. The streak ended with an NNU block.
Miya Koch, a freshman at NNU made a diving one-handed effort to save the ball, but it wasn’t enough, as Western scored.
NNU saved a Western block but didn't stop Western from scoring.
A timeout was called with the score at 9-3, with Western in the lead.
In the following play Western scored off a NNU miscommunication. The play resulted in a timeout by NNU with a 15-6 score.
A fiercely fought point ended with a Fairchild score. She led the team in total attempts, with 16.
Game three ended with a strike from Kylie Honrud, a red-shirt freshman Western pin hitter, at a final score of 25-12 extending Western’s winning streak to seven games.
NNU never held a lead throughout the whole game.
“It felt really good, we’ve worked really hard this week and the past weeks,” Kasey Woodruff, a sophomore defensive specialist/libero for Western said. “It just felt really good to see the result of the hard work that we’ve been doing.”
Woodruff led the team in digs, or the first contact made after an attacker from the other team sends the ball over to the defensive team, with eight.
“Our main goal each week is just to improve from the previous week, so streaks, how many we’ve won in a row, has just been a tester for what we need to learn,” said Diane Flick-Williams, head coach of Western’s volleyball team. “Then we just go into the learning process during the week, and that’s what our focus is.”
Henry Burns is a Public Relations student and reporter for The Front. His work focuses on local sports. You can reach him at burnsh4@wwu.edu.
