MONMOUTH, Ore.--In a marathon battle that came down to a difference of just two points, visiting Western Washington slipped by host Western Oregon in five sets on Saturday afternoon at the Western Athletic Center.
The Vikings won the prize fight 21-25, 25-17, 27-29, 25-16, 15-12. WWU leaves town with a 11-9 overall record and they are 8-6 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Western Oregon, with the heartbreak loss, is now 8-15 on the year and 4-11 in GNAC play.
Payton Davis led the Wolves with 11 kills, followed by
Kilinoelehua Helm and
Mele Taumoepeau with 10 kills each.
Madi Noel had a season-high 25 digs and
Samantha Darby added 19. Darby had 26 assists and Kealani Ross had 25 assists.
Delaney Speer led the Vikings with 24 kills and 15 digs.
The Wolves gave it a valiant effort, especially in taking a forever-battle in the third set before winning 29-27 to take a 2-1 set lead. Down 27-26, WOU got back-to-back-to-back kills from
Malena Mathis (two) and
Finley Buman to win the set.
But the Vikings stormed back to take the fourth set (25-16) and held off the Wolves in the fifth, 15-13. Tied at 8-8, WWU scored four straight points and wouldn't trail again in the winning the set and the match.Â
That was the last home match of the year for the Wolves, who will now hit the road for matches at Alaska (Thursday), Alaska Anchorage (Saturday) and St. Martin's (Nov. 14).
