OAKLAND, Calif.—Using stubborn defense in both matches, the Western Oregon University volleyball team posted a pair of 3-1 wins to open play at the DII West Region Showcase on Friday.

Western Oregon defeated the host Hawks from Holy Names, 3-1 (23-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-14) in the morning session and repeated the performance with a 3-1 (25-21, 16-25, 25-18, 28-26) win over Humboldt State in the evening contest.

With the results, WOU improved to 2-3 on the young season and will turn around to play Stanislaus State (8:30 a.m.) and Hawaii Pacific (3:15 p.m.) to close out the West Region Showcase on Saturday.

Match 1: Western Oregon def. Holy Names, 3-1
Despite being edged, 25-23, in the opening set, Western Oregon held the Hawks to a season-low .034 hitting percentage for the team's first win of the season.

After the early setback, the Wolves dominated play in the second set by more than doubling up the home team.

Mariella Vandenkooy continued to lead WOU's attack with a match-high 14 kills. Morgan Haskett provided eight kills while Marlie Norman (6 kills), Jenna Compton (6 kills), Sophie Hall (5 kills) and Sianna DeCarli (5 kills) all get into the act on the offensive end.

Shepherding the attack, Leila Holt and Maddie Mehciz combined for 34 of the team's 45 assists.

Match 2: Western Oregon def. Humboldt State, 3-1 (25-21, 16-25, 25-18, 28-26)

After seeing Humboldt State tie the match with a win in the second set, the Wolves once again turned to its defense to claim its second 3-1 win of the day.

WOU held the Lumberjacks to a .050 hit rate in set No. 3 and improved on the miniscule number by allowing just a .043 rate in the match-clinching fourth set.

The Wolves finished with a dominating advantage in total kills after recording 52 terminations to only 35 for HSU. Sophie Hall paced the club with 11 kills while Mariella Vandenkooy added 10 kills and a career-best 22 digs.

The dig total fell four shy of teammate Sierra Stultz, who also demolished her career high with 26 total digs. Vandenkooy's previous career high was eight digs set last year against Alaska Fairbanks while Stultz's previous best was a 19-dig performance against MSU Billings a year ago.