BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University volleyball team recorded a 3-0 sweep over Cal Poly Pomona Friday night in front of a crowd of 1,271 fans inside Carver Gym to advance to its fourth consecutive NCAA Division II West Regional Championship match.
With their 27th consecutive victory, the No. 1 seed Vikings will face No. 2 seed Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday night at 7 pm in Carver Gym, with a trip to the NCAA II Championships in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the line.
It was only a three-set match, but the action and the atmosphere made it feel like a five-set affair as top-seeded Vikings (27-3) defeated the No. 4 seed Broncos (24-6) by set scores of 25-22, 25-23, 26-24.
The two squads engaged in a tight match from start to finish with 29 ties, 12 lead changes and neither team leading by more than five points in the final two sets.
Western senior outside hitter Abby Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) led the Vikings with her 25th double-double of the season, compiling 13 kills and 14 digs. Junior middle Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) finished with 13 kills and 6 blocks, hitting .346 for the match. Senior setter Brette Boesel (Brewster, WA) finished with 36 assists and 8 digs.
CPP senior middle blocker Kristen Hamlin led Cal Poly Pomona with 13 kills and 6 blocks with a .310 hitting percentage, a night after recording 33 kills in a five-set victory over Azusa Pacific in the regional quarterfinals. Senior outside hitter Andrea Bosnic finished with a double-double of 12 kills and 17 digs. Senior libero Alex Bollier added 18 digs while freshman setter Kira Zimmerman finished with 38 assists. The Broncos recorded 68 digs in the three-set match.
The victory for Western Washington, ranked No. 2 in the AVCA Division II Coaches Top-25, was the team’s 27th consecutive win and improved the Vikings’ overall record to 27-3. The Vikings will face a longtime postseason rival in No. 1 ranked Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday at 7 p.m. This is the fifth consecutive year that the two teams have met in postseason play and the third time in a regional final since 2015. With Cal State San Bernardino beating Central Washington 3-1 in the other semifinal, it will be a clash of titans Saturday night in Carver Gym and a rematch of the 2015 (WWU won) and 2017 (CSUSB won) West Regional championship matches
The first set proved the only time that either team had more than a five-point lead with the Vikings jumping out to an early 7-2 lead on a pair of kills by sophomore outside hitter Alison Davenport (Auburn, WA/Auburn Riverside) and senior middle Michaela Hall (Centralia, WA). Western extended the advantage to six points on Boesel’s kill at 13-7 before the Broncos scored five consecutive points to bring the set within 13-12. The frame was eventually tied at 20-20 before a pair of Harper kills allowed the Vikings to away with the 25-22 victory.
The teams nearly matched each other point for point in the second set. The Broncos built a 6-4 lead on Karah Griffiths’ kill before a 5-0 WWU run, culminating on Davenport’s ace, put the Vikings up 9-6. CPP rallied to take a two-point advantage when Bosnic’s kill made it 16-14, but WWU scored 8 of the next 10 points and held the 24-19 lead on another Boesel dump over the net. The Broncos rallied to pull to within one point at 24-23 on a Bosnic service ace before Phelps put it away for the Vikings for the 25-23 win to go up 2-0.
The third set proved closest of all with neither team taking more than a three-point lead with 17 ties and 7 lead changes. Western Washington had its largest lead of three, 6-3, on a Phelps kill while the Broncos held no more than a one-point advantage the entire set. At the first match point at 24-23, an attack error gave the Broncos new life before a Davenport kill and an attack out of bounds sealed the match and advancing the Vikings to a fourth consecutive regional final.
