Sports - Local Colleges

POSTED: Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

WWU VOLLEYBALL: Vikings win behind balanced attack

NAMPA, Idaho --- Outside hitter Marlayna Geary posted her 11th double-double of the season with a match-high 20 kills and 13 digs as Western Washington University defeated Northwest Nazarene University 25-13, 22-25, 25-15, 25-22 on Thursday, Nov. 5, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match.

The Vikings improved to 16-9 overall and are third in the GNAC standings at 9-5.

NNU, which edged Western in five sets at Bellingham on Oct. 8, fell to 14-12 overall and 7-6 in league play.

"Everybody had a role and everybody did their role," said Western coach Diane Flick. "When all three of our hitters have high percentages and high kills, that puts a lot of pressure on the other team ... Our attack was much more balanced, so they had to play the entire net."

Middle blocker Emily Jepsen had 14 kills and a match-high five blocks for Western, and outside hitter Megan Amundson added 13 kills.

Libero Allison Gotz had 28 digs for the Vikings, and setter Laurie Yearout had 52 assists and 12 digs.

Western took the first set, scoring eight straight points on the serve of Jordyn Bailey for a 14-5 lead. The Vikings held NNU to a minus-.031 attack percentage.

The Crusaders came back to tie the match at 1-1, never trailing despite a late rally by Western that made it 23-20.

The Vikings bounced back in set three, scoring five straight points to lead, 10-5, and expanding that to 10 by the end of the stanza.

The fourth set had seven lead changes and 12 ties before Western broke it open with an 8-3 run and closed out the match.

The Vikings are at Central Washington on Saturday, Nov. 7, for a GNAC counter.