Volleyball | 10/14/2010 8:58:34 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - No. 16 Western Washington came into the NPE Building and handed Western Oregon a 25-20, 25-20 and 25-19 loss, on Thursday, Oct. 14.

The win kept Western Washington (12-2, 9-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) tied with Seattle Pacific for first place in the GNAC standings. The loss dropped Western Oregon (8-7 overall) into a tie with Central Washington for fourth place in the conference with a 6-4 record.

Danielle Reese led the Wolves with nine kills. Becky Blees paced WOU with a .625 hitting percentage, as she hammered down five kills, without an error, in eight attempts. Western Oregon also got eight kills from Samantha Ward, 17 digs from Megan Triggs and 28 assists from Jorden Burrows.

Despite the three-set sweep, the Wolves were able to go toe-to-toe with one of the GNAC's perennial powers, and fall just a couple of missed opportunities from possibly making it a different outcome.

"Volleyball, at a high level, the margin for winning and losing is quite small," explained Western Oregon head coach Brad Saindon. "One point here, one point there, one missed assignment here and that is what cost us in each of those sets."

Western Oregon was right in the first and second sets. WOU was down just one point in the first set at 19-18, but WWU scored six of the next eight points for the win. It was the same story in set No. 2, where the match was tied at 16-16, before the Vikings made a late run (9-4) to win the set.

"They are a terrific volleyball team and that is the best team we have played this season," said Saindon. "They have four senior starters and are just on a roll right now. I hope in two years when we have four senior starters we can do the same thing to them that they have done to us.

"They are well coached, sustain pressure on you and don't beat themselves; they are a very good team," Saindon continued. "In one hand it is disappointing and on the other it is hopeful; we are not that far away from these guys."

Western Oregon will now face the unique challenge of facing GNAC opponents on back-to-back days. Simon Fraser will be in town, tomorrow (Oct. 15), for a conference showdown with the Wolves beginning at 7:00 p.m.

"We have one day to put in a gameplan and watch film (on Simon Fraser), then we tee it up on a match we absolutely have to win," Saindon noted. "Simon Fraser is better than when we saw them earlier in the season so it's going to be all we can do to win this match tomorrow night."

After the match Saindon also had glowing remarks for the members of the Western Oregon student body and all WOU volleyball fans that made New PE the place to be on Thursday night.

"Once again the crowd was wonderful and the energy in the gym was terrific," Saindon explained. "So thank you to the crowd for coming out and supporting us, we sure appreciate it."