Volleyball | 10/4/2008 3:23:27 PM
Box Score MONMOUTH, Ore. - Haley Kostrba had 14 kills and 21 digs to lead the Western Oregon University volleyball team to a, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-22, victory over Alaska Anchorage Saturday, Oct. 4.
The victory extended the Wolves winning streak to 10 matches as it moved atop the GNAC standings at 5-0. WOU is now a half game ahead of Western Washington, the only remaining undefeated team in Division II volleyball (12-0, 4-0 GNAC), as the Vikings were idle Saturday. The loss drops the Seawolves to 11-7 on the season and 3-2 in the conference.
Danielle English led five Western Oregon student-athletes in digs with 25. Stephanie Beeler recorded her second double-double of the season as she had 10 kills and 10 digs to go along with a .222 hitting percentage (10-4-27) but Kostrba led WOU in hitting percentage with a .297 mark (14-3-37). Amy Herron had 26 assists and Jorden Burrows added 14 more as the duo assisted on 40 of the Wolves' 43 kills. Western Oregon had its best game of the season at the net, as it outblocked Alaska Anchorage 16-7.5 in the four sets as Lisa Martini was the team leader with five (one solo, eight assisted).
The first set was one the Wolves would rather forget, as they had only 10 kills on 48 attempts and six errors for a .083 hitting percentage while yielding a .161 hitting percentage to UAA (14-5-56). No WOU student-athlete recorded over two kills in the set. Martini did have a perfect hitting percentage as she had two kills in her only two attempts.
Western Oregon evened the match at 1-1 as it captured the second frame 25-22. Martini had three blocks (six assisted) and Beeler added 2.5 (five assisted) as WOU outblocked UAA 7-2.5 in the second set. Kostrba and Beeler each had three kills during the set to lead the team. Beeler also had a .286 hitting percentage in the second set with three kills and one error in 13 attempts to lead the Wolves. Western Oregon managed to tie the match at one set apiece despite losing the kill battle 15-9 in the set.
The Wolves used a 7-0 run at the beginning of the third set to take an 8-1 lead. Kostrba added six kills and no errors on nine attempts as Western Oregon went up 2-1 in the match. Herron had 11 assists in 13 attempts, the match-high for the Wolves. Western Oregon won the kill battle for the first time in the match as it outkilled Alaska Anchorage 16-10 in the third set. The Wolves also dominated hitting percentage in the set with a .286 mark (16-4-42) compared to .058 (10-7-52) for the Seawolves.
The fourth set was the most competitive of the evening as the two squads continued to trade points until the set was knotted at 20. Herron then reentered the contest for Burrows and the Wolves went on to take five of the next seven points en route to winning its fifth straight GNAC match and 10th overall. WOU again controlled the net in this set as it recorded five blocks compared to just two for UAA. The team which won the blocking battle captured the victory in each set.
"We came out flat tonight," said head coach Brad Saindon. "We have just hit the 'dog days' and are just physically tired right now but we keep finding a way to win. We are 12-1 this season and have not even begun to play our best ball. We will continue to find ways to make our team better."
The Western Oregon volleyball team will face two GNAC opponents next week. It will take on Seattle Pacific Thursday Oct. 9, at 7:00 p.m., in Seattle and then return to Monmouth, Ore., to match up against Montana State Billings Saturday Oct. 11, at 7:00 p.m.
