The Western Washington University women’s volleyball team defeated the Western Oregon University Wolves 3-1 on Thursday, Oct. 31 at Sam Carver Gymnasium.
Coinciding with Halloween, the athletics department held a costume contest for fans in attendance, with the first-place prize being a brand-new JBL speaker.
The last time the Vikings and Wolves met, the Vikings swept the Wolves 3-0 on the road in Monmouth, Ore. Playing in front of a jovial home crowd Thursday, the Vikings set out to repeat their earlier success against Western Oregon.
“Our student section has been such a big part of the enjoyment of our home matches, along with the WWU Viking Band and WWU cheer,” said Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing Gabrielle Ewing.
In the first set, the Vikings capitalized on a handful of WOU errors to open an early 11-5 lead.
Thanks to a bout of back-and-forth scoring, that six-point lead held up before WOU closed the gap slightly to 16-12.
Any threat was quashed quickly as the Vikings stretched their lead back to seven (21-14) on an ace from Delaney Speer. Western would go on to win the first set 25-18.
In the second set, the Vikings jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but WOU came storming back to take its first lead of the match, 7-6.
The Vikings kept the score close, never falling behind by more than three points until WOU took a 14-10 lead and WWU head coach Diane Flick-Williams called her team’s first timeout.
“It’s mostly to settle them down and let them be themselves,” Flick-Williams said. “Because that’s when we play our best.”
The Vikings had a late push to draw within three towards the end of the set, but WOU held on for a 25-21 set two win to even the match 1-1.
To start the third set, the scoring stayed even, with neither team gaining a lead of more than two points until the Vikings briefly went up 9-6.
Speer’s fourth kill of the match helped the Vikings widen their lead to 17-10.
Devyn Oestreich’s 10th kill of the match gave the junior her seventh double-double of the season and granted the Vikings a 20-15 lead.
“I feel like I have so much trust in [my teammates],” Oestreich said. “That they’re gonna do their job and be in their position so that I can do the exact same thing and we can execute together.”
Junior outside hitter Devyn Oestreich swings for the kill on Oct. 31, 2024, on WECU Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham, Wash. Oestreich racked up 17 digs and 12 kills, good for a match-best 15 points and her seventh double-double of the season. // Photo by Charlie Arcese
11 hard-fought points later, Western took a pivotal two-sets-to-one lead by way of a kill from redshirt freshman Dani Johnson to end the set 25-21.
The fourth set remained tight with neither team able to gain any separation as the scores entered double digits.
Out of nowhere, the Vikings found their stride and pulled ahead 16-10 thanks to a run of serves from sophomore setter Caroline Hansen.
“Caroline Hansen did a really good job of going on a service run for us,” Flick-Williams said. “That gave us the separation we needed and we were able to hold onto that lead for the rest of the set.”
A kill from Johnson ended set number four 25-17, giving the Vikings a match win three sets to one.
“If we can be a little more consistent in our play, so that teams have to earn points more than us giving them errors, I think we can do a lot of great things by the end of the year,” Flick-Williams said.
Western took the court at home again on Saturday, Nov. 2, defeating Saint Martin’s University via a three-set sweep. The Vikings are now 8-4 in conference play and will look to carry their momentum on the road Thursday, Nov. 7 at MSU Billings and Saturday, Nov. 9 at Seattle Pacific University.
Sam Whitney (he/him) is a Sports and Recreation reporter for The Front this quarter. He is studying journalism with a public relations focus with hopes of one day working for a professional baseball team. In his free time, he likes to read about history and play pool with his friends. You can reach him at samwhitney.thefront@gmail.com
