Volleyball | 9/5/2013 10:30:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon volleyball team opened the 2013 season strong as the Wolves swept a pair of matches to start the WOU Invitational on Thursday, defeating Holy Names 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-11) before claiming a 3-1 victory over Cal State East Bay (16-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21). With the wins, WOU improves to 2-0 on the season.

"The team has worked extremely hard over the past few weekends; so, starting out with a pair of wins against quality opponents was a great way to start," head coach Brad Saindon said. "I thought we put together a great team effort and I was really pleased with some of the things we did on defense. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the team progresses through the rest of the weekend."

Hannah Deede led WOU in the game one victory as she notched a match-high 14 kills while posting an impressive .353 attack percentage during the match. The opposite-side hitter also led WOU in total points, posting 17.5

As a team, WOU hit .351 for the contest while limiting Holy Names to an attack percentage of .136. Christie Colasurdo, Cherene O'Hara and Becky Blees each had six kills for WOU in the victory.

Defensively, Blees led the way with three blocks while Megan Triggs added 13 digs for the Wolves.

In game two, WOU rallied from a first-set defeat to take the next three from Cal State East Bay to claim its second victory of the day. In a defensive match-up, WOU used 10 team blocks to grab control of the contest as Blees led all players with seven in the victory. The senior middle blocker finished the match with 11.5 points, leading the Wolves as WOU held the Pioneers to a .133 attack percentage.

Krissi Kemper hit .538 and led WOU with eight kills while Deede added seven for the Wolves. Once again, Triggs led the way with 14 digs while Maddie Kuther reached double figures in the category as well, recording 11.

Cal State East Bay's Suzy Ni Xu led all players with 16 kills in a losing effort.

WOU returns to the court on Friday, Sept. 6, when the Wolves host Metro State at 7:30 p.m.