Sunday, December 6, 2015

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – For the second time in program history, Western Washington is on their way to the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship’s final eight.

The Vikings gave Cal State San Bernardino a taste of their own medicine Sunday, coming back from two sets down to beat the Coyotes in five sets, 21-25, 14-25, 25-22, 25-23, 16-14, in the West Regional championship at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Western Washington lost a close first set before dropping before fading late in the second to go down two sets to none. The Vikings, however, turned the script around. While the Coyotes had put together two rallies from two sets down in the tournament to win in five sets, it was WWU that pulled the feat off.

With the victory, Western Washington returns to the round of eight for the first time since 2007 and are the only GNAC school to advance past the regionals in volleyball. The Vikings that year went all the way to the championship match, losing in four sets to Concordia-St. Paul.

Rachel Roeder led Western Washington with 22 kills and six blocks and had a .273 hitting percentage as the Vikings finished with a .226 team percentage along with 13 blocks. Abby Phelps notched a double-double of 17 kills and 23 digs while Kayleigh Harper came up with nine blocks. All three were named to the All-Tournament Team. The Vikings are now 6-0 this season in matches going to five sets.

Alexandra Torline led Cal State San Bernardino with her third straight night with 20 or more kills, finishing with 29 kills and 20 digs. Lauren Nicholson added a double-double of 15 kills and 23 digs while Jayann DeHoog finished with a double-double of 70 assists and 15 digs.

Western Washington improved to 26-5 on the season while Cal State Bernardino finished the season at 28-6.

The Coyotes never trailed in the opening set, pulling away from a close start to take a 14-9 lead on Torline’s second kill of the night. Western Washington came back to within 15-13 on a pair of Bryce Larson aces, but would win just more points off their own serve from that point. Torline had the Coyotes final two kills to close out the frame.

Things were close to begin the second set, with the Vikings pulling ahead 9-7 on Roeder’s kill. The Coyotes came back to take the 10-9 lead on DeHoog’s block and another Torline kill made it a 14-10 San Bernardino lead. Western Washington scored just four more points in the set and the Coyotes scored 10 of the final 13 points to take the commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

After trailing early in the third, Western Washington took the 5-4 lead on Joellee Buckner’s kill and block by Roeder and Michaela Hall put the Vikings ahead 13-6. Cal State San Bernardino rebounded to take a 22-21 lead on Malika O’Brien’s kill before the Vikings scored the final three points, two off Arielle Turner service aces, to win their first set of the night.

Western Washington started the fourth set in a 2-0 hole before Abby Phelps served the Vikings to a four-point run to go ahead 6-3. While the Coyotes made it close, they would never lead again in the frame. A Kayleigh Harper kill made it a 22-19 while a block by Harper and Buckner made it a 24-19 WWU lead. Cal State San Bernardino made a run at the end, coming within one point on three WWU miscues before Buckner closed out the stanza and forced the fifth set.

The fifth set was a close as it gets with neither team holding more than a two-point throughout. The Vikings found themselves down 14-13 when Phelps came up with a kill that forced extra points. A block by Roeder and Harper made it 15-14 and Roeder had the kill that closed the match and gave the Vikings the regional trophy.

2015 NCAA Div. II West Regional Volleyball Championships All-Tournament Team
Amanda Colla, UC San Diego
Danielle Dahle, UC San Diego
Jayann DeHoog, Cal State San Bernardino
Caitlin Hanson, Alaska Anchorage
Kayleigh Harper, Western Washington
Morgan Hooe, Alaska Anchorage
Lauren Nicholson, Cal State San Bernardino
Malika O’Brien, Cal State San Bernardino
Abby Phelps, Western Washington
Rachel Roeder, Western Washington
Leah Swiss, Alaska Anchorage
Alexandra Torline, Cal State San Bernardino