ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Following a successful start to the season in which the Western Oregon University volleyball team went 2-2 at the Cal Poly Pomona Tournament, the Wolves will turn around to compete in another tournament this week. WOU will travel up North to Ellensburg to compete in the Seattle Pacific/Central Washington Crossover Friday and Saturday.
WOU will face #13 St. Cloud State on Friday at 12 p.m. and later that day they will go against Hawaii Pacific at 5 p.m. To close the trip, the Wolves will face Biola on Saturday starting at 12 p.m.
Last week in California, the Wolves defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills in four sets and swept Western New Mexico. WOU came close to coming back against Concordia University Irvine before falling in five. They also fell to host Cal Poly Pomona in three sets.
Isabel Hurliman leads the team through the first four matches in points with 53 and kills with 47. She is averaging 3.13 kills per set. Hurliman is also second on the team in digs with 30. Madison Hornback is second on the team in both points with 48.5 and kills with 45, averaging just under Hurliman's kills per set at 3.0. Lauren Smith with 27 kills, Makenzie York with 16 and Emily Olson at 10 give the Wolves five players with double-digit kills.
Setting up the offense, Laney O'Neil leads the way with 90 assists, averaging 6.92 assists per set. Aubrey Stanton adds 38 assists. O'Neil has spun in six service aces for far this year to lead the team.
On defense, Sophie Matlock leads the way in digs with 61, averaging 4.07 per set. After Hurliman's 30, O'Neil is third on the team with 22. Bella MacLellan leads the block party with 13, including five solo. York is second with eight blocks.
When WOU opens the crossover against St. Cloud State it will be the first meeting between the teams. The Huskies went 25-7 in 2019. This year, St. Cloud State is already off to a 4-0 start sweeping Wisconsin-Parkside, Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State. They won a five-set match against Michigan Tech.
Kenzie Foley leads the team in points with 57, recording 50 kills. Linsey Rachel adds 48.5 points and 41 kills. Maddy Torve sets up the offense with 164 assists. On defense, Foley leads the team in digs with 50 and Rachel adds 40. Phebie Rossi has sent back 15 blocks and Allison Naughton adds 14.
WOU will close the day on Friday with a match later in the evening against Hawaii Pacific. The teams have played four times since 2000, as the Wolves have won the last three meetings including the most recent matchup in 2018. The Sharks played a pretty full schedule in the 2021 spring going 3-12. So far this year, Hawaii Pacific is 0-4 having faced a pair of GNAC opponents in Alaska and Alaska Anchorage. All four matches were played in Honolulu, as the Sharks lost three of the matches by sweeps and in the final match against Alaska, they went four sets.
Demi Winters leads the team in points with 27 and in kills with 20. Karina Gatewood is second with 20 points and adds 17 kills. Cara McClean and Kohana Fukuchi share the setting duties with McClean tallying 49 assists and Fukuchi with 28.
On defense, Makayla Warthan has 29 digs and Winters has sent back 10 blocks.
WOU closes the road trip on Saturday against Biola. This will be the fifth meeting between the teams and the first since 1999. The teams split the previous four matches. The Eagles went 6-2 during the shortened 2021 spring season.
Biola opened the fall season at the Alaska Anchorage Invitational going 2-2. The lost to host Alaska Anchorage in five, but defeated both Alaska and Texas A&M-International in four sets. They closed the trip with a four-set loss to Indianapolis.
Madison Beebe leads the Eagles with 78 points and 70 kills. The next closest is Raegan Tjepkema with 44.5 points and 32 kills. Vanessa Garcia adds 148 assists.
On defense, Sami Hover leads the way with 83 digs and Tjepkema has sent back 15 blocks.
Live video and stats will be available for all three matches. Live video can be found here and live stats can be found here.
