MONMOUTH, Ore.—On the verge of sending the match to a fifth set, Western Oregon University lost a hard-fought contest to Central Washington University, 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-19, 25-23) inside the NPE Gymnasium on Thursday night.

Picked to place second in the GNAC according to the conference's preseason poll, Central Washington (10-2, 4-1 GNAC) hit .351 in the opening set to land the first strike.

In the ensuing set, Western Oregon (5-7, 2-3 GNAC) responded by using an 11-6 run to overcome a late deficit and knot the match at 1-1. The Wolves received two key swings from senior Mariella Vandenkooy and back-to-back kills from freshman Descinda Slaughter down the stretch for the match-tying win.

Down 13-8 in the third, the Wildcats used two separate four-point sprees to regain the set and the match lead while the fourth set was a back-and-forth affair that featured four lead changes.

CWU once again broke away in the middle sections of the set to apply additional pressure on the Wolves. Trailing 7-6, CWU scored nine of the next 11 points to stake a 15-9 advantage.  

Vandenkooy added two more of her team-high 14 kills to help the Wolves draw closer while another termination moments later handed WOU an 18-17 advantage. With Sianna DeCarli and Morgan Haskett getting into the attack, the Wolves created a three-point buffer with a 23-20 lead.

CWU, however, registered consecutive kills by Bridgette Webb and Shelby Mauritson to pull back to within a single point. From there, the Wildcats used an ace, another kill be Webb and a combo block to complete a five-point stretch that prevented the match from heading to the fifth set.

"We looked confidant all night and that allowed us to be aggressive in our play and to make adjustments on the fly," WOU head coach Tommy Gott said. "The ability to react, change stuff mid-match and to be able to execute those changes was huge."

CWU outhit Western Oregon .192 to .127 in the match. The Wolves kept the tallies close in total digs (77 to 75) and blocks (15 to 13). With the win, CWU has claimed a victory in eight of its last nine matches.
"Our block had a great night and the box score doesn't show the additional slowdowns we created. The buy in was there all match," Gott said.

The Wolves will continue play at home on Saturday when they host Northwest Nazarene. Opening serve against the Nighthawks is set for 2 p.m.

"We know NNU is going to play their game. We have to stay focused on our strengths and play to the standard we are capable of because every match in this conference is a battle," Gott said.