MONMOUTH, Ore.--Western Oregon didn't go down without a fight but visiting Central Washington held off a late Wolves charge for a 3-0 win over the WOU on Thursday night at the Wolves Athletic Center. 

The Wildcats won in straight sets, 25-21, 25-16, 25-21 to improve to 7-4 on the season and to 3-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, winning their third straight. Western Oregon is now even on the season at 6-6 overall and 2-2 in conference play. 

Ellie Marble led the CWU attack with 13 kills and a .444 attack percentage. She had just one hitting error on the night. Brooklyn Parker led the Wildcat defense with 19 digs. Mele Taumoepeau led the Wolves with 10 kills and a .308 hitting percentage. 

The Wildcats are the defending GNAC Co-Champs and in 2025 reached the NCAA tournament.

Western Oregon had early leads in each of the first two sets. In the first, WOU jumped out to a 3-0 margin, but later in the game CWU went on a 9-4 run and didn't trail again. Finley Buman's kill pulled the home team to within 21-19, but CWU pulled away for the 25-21 win. 

In the second, the Wolves were up 4-0 to start the set and had an 8-4 lead but Central scored eight straight points and moved on for the 25-16 win.

The script flipped a bit in the third, with CWU taking a 4-0 lead out of the break. They led 8-1 and 11-3, but the Wolves stormed back. Midway in the set, they cut the lead to five a number of times, but the Wildcats still moved to 23-16, close to wrapping up the match. 

But Western didn't go down without a fight, scoring five consecutive points to pull to 23-21. Two of those points were kills by Taumoepeau, including the one to pull her team to within a couple of digits. Nonetheless, the Wildcats closed it out with the final two points for the 25-21 verdict. 

"With Payton Davis out with an injury, I thought Mele really stepped up for us in so many ways, especially offensively," said Wolves head coach Kaiao Nahele-a. "Central is one of the most talented serve and receive teams in the conference. They showed us where we need to get better and we will be a stronger team for it."

The Wolves will look to get back on track on Saturday night at the Wolves Athletic Center with a 7 pm bout against Northwest Nazarene.