• News
• |
• Schedule
• |
• Roster
• |
• Stats
• |
• Archives

Sept. 17, 2011

Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Outside hitter Marlayna Geary (Jr., Tacoma/Bellarmine Prep) had a match-high 24 kills, just five shy of her career best, and a career-high 30 digs as Western Washington University rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Western Oregon University, 23-25, 21-15, 25-19, 25-20, 15-8, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match Saturday at the New P.E. Gymnasium on the WOU campus. The teams entered the match tied for the conference lead.

"When we were sputtering, she was the light that we all followed to pull ourselves out of it," said WWU coach Diane Flick (12th year, 239-66) of Geary's performance. "Her stats were incredible, but her heart and composure say so much more. This is what Marlayna can do."

The Vikings, who improved to 6-2 with their fourth straight victory, remained undefeated in GNAC play at 4-0. Middle blocker Emily Jepsen (Sr., Kennewick/Kamiakin) added 13 kills and five block assists, and libero Samantha Hutchinson (R-Fr., University Place/Curtis) had a match-high 32 assists.

WOU, which had a four-match winning streak snapped, fell to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in conference action. The Wolves were paced by Danielle Reese with 17 kills and 12 digs and Corynn Kopra with 13 kills and 20 digs.

WWU led by five on two occasions in the first set, 10-5 and 14-9, but the Wolves went on an 11-4 run to take a 20-18 lead and the Vikings never could get closer than one after that. Reese had seven kills for WOU.

The Vikings again took a 14-9 lead, but WOU came back and following five ties and a one-point deficit, 21-20, the Wolves scored five straight points to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.

In set three, WWU used a 12-2 run for an 18-8 lead and never led by less than five in getting the win.

WWU fell behind 18-15 in set four before a 10-2 run on five kills by Geary tied the match at 2-2. The Vikings never trailed in the fifth and deciding set.

Geary, who is averaging 4.32 kills per set, has been WWU's kill leader in seven of eight matches this season.

WWU returns home to Carver Gymnasium, where it has a 12-match winning streak, for GNAC matches on Thursday (7 p.m.) versus Alaska Fairbanks and Saturday (7 p.m.) against Alaska Anchorage.