MONMOUTH, Ore. – Big hitting in the first and fourth sets told the tale of a good night for the Western Oregon volleyball team on Thursday in Monmouth. In the team's annual "Think Pink" match, WOU captured a 3-1 victory over Saint Martin's (25-19, 25-22, 19-25, 25-17), closing out the contest with a bounce back in the fourth game after dropping a chance to earn a sweep.
 
The Wolves' offense held a large edge of Saint Martin's, as WOU put together a 59-43 advantage in kills over the Saints, including a pair of sets with 17 kills (2^nd, 4^th). For the match, Western Oregon owned a .151 hitting percentage, while SMU connected at a .131 clip.
 
WOU improves to 7-11 overall and 4-7 in GNAC play, while the Saints fall to 6-9 on the year and 2-9 in conference action.
 
Even more than just a solid night from the WOU offense was a stronger performance from the Western Oregon defense. The Wolves led Saint Martin's in digs (99-91) and held a slim margin in total blocks (9.0-8.0). WOU produced eight aces to SMU's one.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Mariella Vandenkooy produced a career-high 16 kills while hitting .320 and committing just two attack errors in 39 swings. She also supplied two block assists.
 
Two upperclassman put together strong offensive efforts, as well. Middle blocker Sydney Blankinship totaled 12 kills with a .259 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Alisha Bettinson fashioned her 10^th double-double with 11 kills and a season-high 22 digs.
 
Defensively, senior Christie Colasurdo slightly outpaced Bettinson with 24 digs. A pair of freshman defensive specialists, Makenna Behrens and Libbie Hoene, each had 13 digs while sophomore setter Maddie Mehciz also had a double-double with 11 digs and 51 assists.
 
What started as a tight first set with one early lead changes and six ties, turned into as large as a seven-point WOU lead. Deadlocked at 6-6, the Wolves went on a 4-0 behind Mehciz's strong serving. Blankinship started the run with a kill, while Vandenkooy closed out the run with three straight kills helping the Wolves to a 106 advantage. Blankinship and Paige Orth added kills, Colasurdo posted a service ace, and three SMU errors pushed the lead to 19-12. The Saints took six of the next 10 points, but could not close the deficit before a final kill from Blankinship ended the game.
 
Saint Martin's responded to a 10-5 WOU run with a similar run in kid to pull the second game even at 15-15. The Wolves took a four-point lead scoring six of the eight following points following the stalemate. Vandenkooy had three kills during the critical run and Bettinson added two putdowns. A late SMU run of 3-0 trimmed the lead to 23-22 before a kill from Amanda Short and a final Saints' error put the home club up 2-0 at the break.
 
The intermission proved beneficial for Saint Martin's, sprinting out to a 12-8 advantage. Western Oregon countered with a 7-1 run helped out by four SMU errors to lead 15-13. That advantage was short lived as SMU responded immediately with seven straight points aided by four kills from Rebecca Mitchell. WOU would get within four twice, but Saint Martin's closed out the third set with a match-best 13 team kills.
 
Game four saw SMU lead early 5-1 and 7-5 before Western Oregon rattled off a 12-2 run, with Mackenzie Bowen tallying her first kill, a kill from Bettinson, an ace from Behrins and a joust at the net won by Mehciz. The setter produced back-to-back aces that put WOU up 17-9. The final two Wolves points came on Bettinson's 11^th kill and Blankinship's 12^th rally-ender.
 
For SMU, Rachel Gondrizick had a double-double of 13 kills and 13 digs while Mitchell followed closely with 12 kills.
 
Western Oregon is at home against on Saturday (Oct. 22) against Seattle Pacific at 7 p.m. during WOU Alumni Day and Homecoming 2016.