POMONA, Calif. – Backed by a strong defensive effort, timely kills and a solid service game, the Western Oregon University volleyball team picked up their first win of the 2021 fall season with a 3-1 victory (23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-18) over Cal State University-Dominguez Hills Friday during the Cal Poly Pomona Tournament. WOU will play host Cal Poly Pomona later this evening at 7 p.m.
The Wolves (1-1) posted 43 kills and his .215 for the match. They spun in 11 service aces and although they had just six blocks, WOU limited CSU-DH to just a .115 hitting percentage, committing 24 errors.
Isabel Hurliman led the way offensively for the second straight match collecting 13 kills. Lauren Smith and Madison Hornback added nine kills apiece. Laney O'Neil paced the offense dishing out 30 assists. On defense, Sophie Matlock had 18 digs, while Hurliman made it a double-double with 11. Makenzie York sent back three blocks, while Sarah Crowell added a solo block.
The opening set was tight most of the way. A kill by Smith even the set at 11 before the Toros reeled off the next three points to open up an 14-11 lead. Trailing 20-17, WOU kept pushing working their way back to even the set at 20 with a kill by Bella Maclellan and a service ace from O'Neil. Following another run to tie the set at 23 with kills from Smith and Hornback, CSU-DH held off the comeback getting the next two points for the 25-23 opening set win.
The Wolves quickly turned it around in the second set with kills from Hornback and York, around a couple of errors by the Toros had WOU holding a 9-3 lead. The lead stretched to seven at 17-10 and after the Toros made one last push to get to within three at 19-16, the Wolves finished the set on a 6-0 run. Hurliman started the run with a kill, York added a service ace and after a double-block by Hurliman and Maclellan, a pair of attacking errors pushed WOU to the 25-16 second set win.
Ahead 10-7 in the third set, WOU started to pull away with a 5-0 run started on a kill by Hurliman. York added a pair of kills and after a service ace from Crowell, Hurliman drilled another kill for the 15-7 lead. CSU-DH didn't go away, coming back to within two at 16-14, but the Wolves were ready. Holding a 19-16 lead, WOU closed the set strong. Crowell helped ignite a 4-0 run with a kill that was capped on a double-block by Smith and York for the 23-16 lead. After the Toros scored three of the next four points, Crowell closed the set with a solid kill for the 25-19 third set win and 2-1 match lead.
WOU kept a small advantage throughout the early parts of the fourth set before stretching the lead out to five at 13-8 on a kill by Hornback. Points from Smith, York and O'Neil had the Wolves in firm control at 20-11. Down the stretch, Hurliman pushed WOU close to match point with a kill and after a service error had the Wolves at match point, O'Neil spun in the 11th team service ace to give WOU the 25-18 fourth set win and 3-1 match victory.
Overall stats had WOU leading in almost every category including kills (43-40), service aces (11-6), blocks (6-5) and assists (35-29). The Toros held a slight 53-52 lead in digs.
Nicole Peery had a match-high 15 kills to lead the Toros. Bailey Fuches added 19 assists and Gabbie Silva had 17 digs.
Since 2001, WOU is now 5-1 in the series against CSU-Dominguez Hills, with all six matches being played at neutral sites.
