LACEY, Wash. – The Western Oregon volleyball team secured their first conference win of the season on Thursday, besting the Saint Martin's Saints 3-1 (26-24, 25-13, 15-25, 32-30) at Marcus Pavilion.

"It's about time," head coach Stacy Metro said. 
 
The opening set served as one of two games to go beyond the 25^th point. Saint Martin's (0-14, 0-5 GNAC) held a lead as late as 19-17 in game one before Western Oregon (3-9, 1-4 GNAC) put together a 5-1 run and never trailed again in the set. Sarah Crowell finished off the set win on the assist from Lauren Smith.
 
"I'm really proud of our effort and how we persevered," said Smith after the win. "We worked hard as a team and are very excited about our first conference win." Smith finished the match with a season-high nine kills along with nine digs and six blocks.
 
After the Saints pulled off their only set win in the third, it took Western 32 points to finish off the win in the final game. Saint Martin's led 21-18 in the fourth until WOU rattled off five straight points to take the lead. Emily West's service ace finished off the win.
 
The victory re-establishes the Wolves on the winning side of the series after SMU snapped a Western Oregon 17-game winning streak in the 2018 season finale in Monmouth.
 
"It feels amazing to get our first conference win," said senior Allyson Crisp. "It was really great to see how all of our hard work in practice has paid off in the game tonight." Crisp led the Wolves with 12 kills, six blocks and a team-high 15.5 points.
 
Crisp was one of three Western players to hit double figures in kills. Sianna DeCarli followed with 10 kills, a dig and a service ace while Sarah Crowell put together 10 kills and six digs.
 
Western Oregon set new season-highs for single-game totals in multiple categories, including 53 kills, 12.0 total blocks, 53 digs and 50 assists.
 
While the Wolves were able to post 12.0 blocks at the net, the Saints managed just 3.0 as WOU put together their third-best hit percentage of the season at .245 on the match.
 
Sophomore Delaney Smith finished with a team-high .500 hit percentage and nine kills. It was the third straight match she has finished with a hit percentage of .455 or better and at least five kills.
 
"I'm so proud of our team," said Smith. "Proving ourselves with a conference win is a big moment for us."
 
The Wolves now head to Seattle to take on the Seattle Pacific Falcons on Saturday, Oct. 5. First serve is set for 2 p.m. PDT at Brougham Pavilion.