MONMOUTH – Junior Sydney Blankinship hit .400 and led the Wolves with 10 kills and just two errors on 20 attempts to go with three digs and three blocks, as the Western Oregon volleyball team swept Alaska on Thursday at the New P.E. Building. Set scores were 25-23, 25-14, 25-20.
 
The Wolves (9-13, 6-9 GNAC) hit .268 for the match behind the setting of sophomore Maddie Mehciz with 37 assists. Senior outside hitter Paige Orth added nine kills, with one error, to hit .571 on the night while junior Alisha Bettinson and sophomore Mariella Vandenkooy each had eight kills. Sophomore Amanda Short contributed to the balanced offensive attack with seven kills. Senior Christie Colasurdo led all players with 15 digs while Bettinson chipped in with 13 digs.
 
The first set features nine ties and five lead changes, as the Wolves held off a late Nanook charge to win the opener. Alaska (2-20, 1-14 GNAC) jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead before the Wolves went on a 12-7 run to go ahead 14-11. Leading 17-13, WOU saw Alaska post three straight points in slicing the lead down to one. Blankinship had two consecutive kills preceding a Nanook attack error and an Orth service ace posted a 21-16 age. Alaska spun momentum with a 7-1 run to take a 23-22 lead. Vandenkooy's kill brought the game even at 23-all while an ace from Bettinson put the Wolves at game point. A combo block from Blankinship and Vandenkooy wrapped up a 25-23 win.
 
After six ties and three early lead changes, it was all Wolves in the latter part of set two. Tied at 8-all, Western Oregon scored four in a row and 13 of 16 points to take a 10-point lead at 21-11. Bettinson had three kills early while a solid block forced the Nanooks into three consecutive errors at the tail end. WOU's lead stayed in double figures for all but one sequence before kills from Mehciz and Bettinson allowed the Wolves to take a 2-0 lead in the match. WOU held Alaska to eight kills while posting a team percentage of .333 (15 kills, 4 errors).
 
The third set saw the Wolves lead from the opening whistle and opened a 14-10 lead. The Wolves went on a five-point spurt during the serve of Mehciz, who had two aces, increasing the lead to 18-12. Orth's kill put the Wolves at match point. Alaska sliced an eight-point deficit in half before Orth put down the final ball of the night to close out Western Oregon's third sweep of the season.
 
The victory extended WOU's home winning streak to three matches and allowed the Wolves to surpass the win mark from the 2015 season (eight wins) with five regular-season contests left.
 
WOU hosts No. 11 Alaska Anchorage on Saturday at 7 p.m. at New P.E. The match will be broadcast live on WOUWolves.com/Live, along with live stats.