Saturday, December 5, 2015
by Western Washington Athletic Communciations

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The No. 2 seed Western Washington Vikings advanced to the NCAA Division II West Regional Final with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory (16-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-12, 15-8) over UC San Diego Saturday evening at Alaska Airlines Center.

The Vikings will meet the winner of the Alaska Anchorage (No. 1 seed) and Cal State San Bernardino (No. 4 seed) semifinal match tomorrow in the regional final at 5 p.m. PT (4 p.m. in Alaska).

The Vikings, ranked 16th in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll, improved to 25-5 overall, including a perfect 5-0 record in 5-set matches. The 25 wins are tied for 7th-most in program history. This is the Vikings ninth trip to the NCAA II Tournament and program-record fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA West Regional. UC San Diego ends its season with a 20-13 record.

"We dug really deep in the fourth and fifth sets. This is a team that's never been short of heart,” said 16th-year head coach Diane Flick. “It seems like it kind of started with Rachel and Jennica (the seniors) in the fourth set. They set the direction and everyone was willing to follow."

Western was led by double-doubles performances from redshirt freshman outside hitter Abby Phelps had 16 kills and 22 digs, opposite Jennica McPherson added 10 kills and 17 digs and outside hitter Joellee Buckner finished with 10 kills and 16 digs.

Senior outside hitter Rachel Roeder added 15 kills on a .319 hitting percentage and freshman middle blocker Kayleigh Harper tallied 7.0 total blocks. The Vikings had an 11-1 advantage in blocks.

“We played as a team. The last four sets, it took everyone, not just on the floor, but on the bench, for us to win,” said Roeder. “ When we play together like that, it makes a huge difference.”

The Tritons were led by 25 kills and 14 digs by outside hitter Danielle Dahle. Libero Amanda Colla recorded a match-high 41 digs.

The Tritons took the opening set 25-16, with the Vikings never holding a lead. WWU trailed by one point 8-7 early in the set, but UCSD pulled away with the Vikings recording only one kill the rest of the set (Phelps). Dahle recorded 7 kills to lead the Tritons.

WWU pulled even with a 25-23 win in the second set. Both teams battled to the end with no lead larger than two after the set was tied 13-13. Harper recorded a team-high 5 kills and 2 blocks in the set. Dahle added 7 more kills for the Tritons.

UCSD won the third set 25-17 behind 7 kills from junior outside hitter Meagan Wright. Western trailed by 3 at 15-12, but UCSD went on a 5-0 run to extend the lead to 20-12. Joellee Buckner led the Vikings with 4 kills.

With the season on the line, the Vikings put together a dominating performance in the fourth set in a 25-12 win to push the match to the deciding fifth set. Roeder recorded 4 kills and McPherson added 3 kills. The team had 15 kills without an attack error.

In the deciding fifth set the Vikings jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead and kept the momentum closing out the match scoring four of the last five points, three on blocks (all involving Harper). Phelps recorded 5 of her team-high 16 kills.

Jumped to 4-0 lead.  4 kills in 6 swings.  UCSD got as close as two.  Closed out with four of last five points, three of them on blocks, all involving Harper. WWU did not commit an attack error in the final two sets, and only two in the last four sets.

"This can't happen without all of us pulling in the same direction. It took all of us to get through tonight. That includes my staff,” added Flick. “They did a great job of coming up with the right adjustments and the players executed them."