Volleyball | 11/15/2008 11:16:02 PM

Box Score MONMOUTH, Ore. - The No. 20 Western Oregon University volleyball team extended its home winning streak to 18 matches as it defeated Seattle Pacific 25-19, 24-26, 25-12 and 25-20, Saturday (Nov.15) on senior night.

With the victory, Western Oregon extended its winning streak to six consecutive matches as it moved to 22-2 on the season and 15-1 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Wolves had already clinched the conference championship when it defeated Northwest Nazarene at home Thursday The loss dropped Seattle Pacific to 8-18 on the season and to 5-11 in the GNAC. 

Seniors Haley Kostrba, Stacey Bennett and Kayla Mainer led the Wolves with nine, 10 and 12 kills, respectively. Danielle English had a team-high 22 digs and Amy Herron led the team with 24 assists. Laura Sakala had six assisted blocks in the contest as Western Oregon won the hitting percentage battle .145-.087 for the victory. The Wolves have now gone undefeated at home for the past two seasons.

"I was happy for our seniors that they were able to end it like this," said head coach Brad Saindon. "I want to express a special thanks to our fans for the good crowds and great support. Something special is happening here and they are a big part of it."

The Wolves won the first set 25-19 as it outhit the Falcons .154-.049. The senior Bennett had seven of Western Oregon's 12 kills with just one error for a .500 hitting percentage (7-1-12). Mainer and English both had six digs to lead the team while Jorden Burrows and Herron topped the club with five assists apiece. Western Oregon was down 7-5 in the set but then went on a 13-3 run, which included five-straight points, to take the lead at 18-10. The Wolves would earn the final seven points to close out the set on four SPU hitting errors and kills by Bennett, Mainer and Sylvia Herrold. 

Seattle Pacific stormed back from a 19-14 second set-deficit to take the set 26-24. SPU took 11 of the final 16 points to tie the match at one set apiece. The Falcons dominated the hitting percentage category, .176-.057, and blocks, 7-1, advantage en route to winning the second set. Stephanie Beeler was the team-leader in kills for the Wolves with four as Herron led the team with nine assist and tied for the team-lead with six digs. 

Western Oregon held SPU to nine kills with eight errors on 44 attempts in the third set for a miniscule .023 hitting percentage. The Wolves managed only eight kills in the set, as Mainer and Kostrba led the way with three apiece, but were aided to the win 17 Seattle Pacific errors including five service errors. Mainer, Beeler and Herron all had four digs in the set while Herron had a team-best four assists. 

In the fourth set, the Wolves won the block battle 4.0-1.0 as it took the set 25-20. Senior Haley Kostrba had six kills and no errors in the set for a .300 hitting percentage. Burrows had seven assists and Herron added six. Kostrba and Bennett both had a team-high seven digs.

"It has been a great year but we are not done yet," expressed Saindon. "We are just getting to the exciting part now."

The 2008 season was a record breaking one for Western Oregon volleyball, as it earned its first GNAC volleyball and set a record with 15 GNAC conference victories. This is the Wolves' eighth season as a member of the GNAC (2001). 

The Western Oregon volleyball team will begin postseason play next Thursday (Nov. 20) in the NCAA Division II tournament. The site and opponent are still to be determined and will be announced as part of the NCAA selection show Sunday Nov. 16, at 7:00 p.m., on www.ncaasports.com.