WWU volleyball earns sweep at West Regional

Redshirt freshman Abby Phelps recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 18 digs to lead the No. 2 seed Western Washington Vikings to a 25-23, 25-13, 25-19 win over No. 7 seed Point Loma on Friday, Dec. 4, in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 NCAA Division II West Regional Volleyball Championships at Alaska Airlines Center.

The Vikings, ranked 16th in the AVCA Coaches Poll, improved to 24-5 overall while snapping a three-match losing streak in the NCAA Tournament. This is the Vikings ninth trip to the NCAA II Tournament and program-record fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA West Regional. Point Loma ends its season with a 20-10 record, including a pair of losses to the Vikings.

"We have to win as a team and I thought we had a very balanced match,” WWU coach Diane Flick said in a news release. “When they key on stopping one person, you need someone else to step up, and we did that. I'm proud that we could get a win with so many players in their first or second national tournament."

Phelps recorded her team-leading ninth double-double (kills-digs) of the season, recording team-highs in kills (13) and digs (18). The GNAC Freshman of the Year added a .375 hitting percentage making only one error on 32 attacks.

"Abby came out aggressive early on,” added Flick. “She did that in the front and back row, she led us in digs as well as kills. She did a good job of doing her job."

Senior outside hitter Rachel Roeder, sophomore outside hitter Joellee Buckner and redshirt freshman middle blocker Kayleigh Harper each added seven kills in the win. Harper tallied a match-high five blocks while Roeder matched her season high with 4 blocks (all in the second set). Buckner tallied 16 digs joining Phelps and senior opposite Jennica McPherson had 11 digs to anchor the defense.

Setters Brette Boesel and Kristina Tribley had 19 and 16 assists respectively to balance out the offense.

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "WWU volleyball earns sweep at West Regional."