BURNABY, B.C. --- The Western Oregon volleyball forced a fifth game, but came up short in the deciding set to Simon Fraser to fall 3-2 (22-25, 25-11, 25-14, 20-25, 15-10) Saturday night at West Gym.
After taking the first set 25-22, the Wolves (9-15 overall, 5-11 GNAC) lost the next two sets to the Red Leafs (12-14, 9-7) and had to take the fourth set to keep the match alive.
The fourth set was tied 14-14 before a 5-0 run helped WOU take control of the set - though SFU did cut the Wolves' lead to 21-19 before a pair of kills from Hartsook and another from
Ella Nordquist gave them some breathing room before taking the set 25-20.
In the fifth set, the Wolves led 3-2 after a kill by Hartsook before a 5-0 run by the Red Leafs made it 7-3 and WOU wouldn't get closer than three the rest of the way - falling 15-10.
Hartsook paced the Wolves with 19 kills while Nordquist and
Delaney Smith had eight kills apiece. Smith,
Bella MacLellan and
Madison Hornback and three blocks apiece.
Laney O'Neil had a team-high 25 assists while
Emily West added 18.
Sophie Matlock led the team with 16 digs.
The Wolves return home for their final two games of the season next week with home, taking on Alaska Anchorage Thursday (7 p.m.) and Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday (2 p.m.).