POMONA, Calif. – Sitting just three points away from dropping the opening set, the Western Oregon University volleyball team fought back like they have all week. WOU won 10 of the next 12 points to claim the first set and the momentum followed the rest of the way leading the Wolves to a 3-0 sweep of Western New Mexico (26-24, 25-18, 25-18) Saturday morning to conclude the Cal Poly Pomona Tournament.
Early on in the opening set, WOU (2-2) held small leads, including a 13-11 advantage following a double-block from Isabel Hurliman and Makenzie York. After Hurliman spun in a service ace to even the set at 16, WNMU (1-3) reeled off the next six points to take control. The Wolves stayed the course, chipping away with the next four points. Madison Hornback started the run with a kill. After a solo block by Bella MacLellan and an attacking error, Hornback closed the run with another kill that had WOU within two at 22-20. The Mustangs moved just a couple points away from the set at 23-20, when WOU ripped off the next four points to move to set point. Hornback tallied back-to-back kills and after MacLellan had another block, a bad set by WNMU gave WOU the 24-23 lead. The Mustangs answered to even the set, but WOU wasn't about to let the set slip away. Hornback recorded another kill and then Hurliman ended the set with a kill at 26-24.
The second set went back-and-forth throughout before WOU was able to string some points together midway through to move out to a 15-12 lead off a kill by Hornback. The lead stretched to 21-15 with a service ace from Sophie Matlock. WOU kept their foot on the gas the remainder of the set with Laney O'Neil tallying a service ace and then a kill by Lauren Smith gave WOU the second set win at 25-18 and a 2-0 match advantage.
WOU quickly jumped ahead in the third set. Following a couple of errors by the Mustangs, MacLellan tallied a block and Hornback a kill to give the Wolves a 5-0 run and 9-5 lead. WNMU made one more push later in the set to pull back to within two at 18-16, but WOU was ready to finish off the sweep. A service error helped ignite a 5-0 run. Emily Olson and MacLellan combined for a block and following a bad set, Hurliman recorded a pair of kills to leave WOU in front at 23-16. A few points later, WOU closed the match on a double-block by York and Hurliman for the 25-18 third set win and 3-0 match victory.
The offense continued to improve throughout the match as WOU hit .163 in the first set, then .265 in the second and .267 in the third. Overall, WOU recorded 41 kills to 17 errors in 107 chances to hit .224. The defense kept WNMU to a .099 hitting percentage. The Mustangs had 29 kills to 19 errors in 101 chances. In the closeout third set, the Wolves kept the Mustangs to a .032 hitting percentage. WOU led every statistical category including kills (41-29), service aces (3-2), blocks (8-5), assists (37-25) and digs (44-43).
Hurliman and Hornback led the Wolves as the two tied for a match-high 15 kills. O'Neil and Aubrey Stanton set the offense with O'Neil dishing out 16 assists to 15 for Stanton. On defense, MacLellan sent back six blocks and Matlock added 16 digs. Hurliman and O'Neil just missed double-doubles with Hurliman adding nine digs and O'Neil with eight.
Bria Augustine led the Mustangs with 10 kills, while Hailey Hertzog added 22 assists. On defense, Megan Custer had four blocks and Janey Cortez recorded 17 digs.
WOU finishes the Cal Poly Pomona Tournament with a 2-2 record. This coming week, the Wolves will travel to Ellensburg to compete in the Seattle Pacific/Central Washington Crossover beginning with a doubleheader on Friday, Sep. 10 against St. Cloud State and Hawaii Pacific.
