FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The No. 4 nationally-ranked Western Washington University volleyball team continued its winning ways recording its 19th consecutive victory with a 3-0 road sweep at Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday afternoon in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at the Alaska Airlines Court.
The Vikings improved to 19-3 overall and remain perfect in GNAC play at 14-0 with the 25-22, 25-20, 25-20 straight-sets victory. WWU has now won its last 32 GNAC contests dating back to last season. Alaska Fairbanks had its seven-match winning streak snapped to fall to 10-11 overall and 8-6 in conference play.
“Today was a great defensive effort with 14 blocks and 54 digs in three sets,” said head coach Diane Flick-Williams. “Mae (Thungc) was a water bug in the back grow, digging a ton of balls.”
The Vikings defense was led by a match-high 22 digs by junior libero Mae Thungc (Kent, WA/Kentridge) and 5 blocks each by senior outside hitter Abby Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) and senior middle Michaela Hall (Centralia, WA). WWU out-blocked the Nanooks 14.0 to 4.0, and had a 54-43 advantage in digs.
In addition to her 5 blocks, Phelps recorded a 11-kill, 16-dig double-double and tallied a match-high 15.5 points. With her 11 kills, Phelps moved into 3rd place in GNAC history with 1,464 career kills.
Hall added 10 kills and junior middle Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) contributed 8 kills and 3 blocks. Senior setter Brette Boesel (Brewster, WA) quarterbacked the offense with 34 assists.
“Brette was solid in every facet of the game and was the ultimate leader for us in a very tough road match,” added Flick-Williams.
The Nanooks were led by 11 kills from Lahra Weber and 9 by Kim Wong. Setter Cate Whiting had 28 assists, 4 kills and 7 digs.
The Vikings (19-3, 14-0 GNAC) will have a quick turnaround hosting Simon Fraser on Tuesday night at Carver Gym with 7 pm GNAC match, and then conclude the busy week of four matches in eight days traveling to face Montana State Billings on Thursday. Both matches will be stream live and feature live statistical updates at GNAC.tv.
SET 1 (WWU 25, UAF 22): The first set featured six ties and four lead changes, but it was the Vikings that won that battle in the end pulling away from a 20-20 tie for the 25-22 win to go up 1-0 in the match. UAF used a 5-1 run to build a 4-point lead at 17-13, but the Vikings answered with a 6-1 run of their own to gain the lead at 19-18. An attack error by the Nanooks and a Phelps kill gave the Vikings
SET 2 (WWU 25, UAF 20): The Vikings took control of the middle part of the set, taking a 17-12 lead by going on a 7-2 run to pull away from a 10-10 tie. Fairbanks climbed back to within three points at 18-15, but Western wouldn’t let the Nanooks get any closer pulling away with the 25-20 victory to go up 2-0 in the match.
SET 3 (WWU 25, UAF 20): The third set featured eight ties, before the Vikings scored consecutive points break an 11-11 tie and take a 15-11 lead as part of a 5-0 run. The Nanooks closed to within two points at 17-15, but the Vikings answered with a 3-0 run to retake a 5-point lead at 20-15, and closed out the match with another 25-20 set victory.
STREAK NOTES…WWU extended winning streaks of 19 matches this season and 32 consecutive GNAC victories (dating back to last season)…during the 19-match winning streak, the Vikings have won 57 of 67 sets and recorded 12 sweeps…19 consecutive wins is the 5th-longest winning streak in program history…here is a look at the longest winning streaks in program history:
