Thursday, December 10, 2015
by Western Washington Athletic Communications

TAMPA, Fla. – Western Washington advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four with a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over Rockhurst (20-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-22) Thursday afternoon at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on the University of Tampa campus.

Redshirt freshman middle blocker Kayleigh Harper led the Vikings with a rare kill-block double-double, notching a match-high 16 kills and 10 total blocks (9 block assists, 1 block solo). Senior opposite Jennica McPherson also recorded a double-double with 14 kills (.565 hitting percentage) and 16 digs.

The Vikings improved to 27-5 overall and will meet Wheeling Jesuit (37-4) in the NCAA II Semifinal tomorrow at 5 pm ET/2 pm PT Friday in Tampa. This is Western’s second appearance in the Final Four, joining the 2007 squad that finished runner-up. Coincidentally, WWU and Wheeling Jesuit opened the season against each other in the same gym in Tampa, with the Cardinals winning 3-0.

In addition to the big performances by Harper and McPherson, the balanced Vikings attack had five players record 8 or more kills. Sophomore opposite Joellee Buckner recorded nine kills and 22 digs and redshirt freshman Abby Phelps added eight kills and 22 digs, both narrowly missing double-doubles. Senior outside hitter Rachel Roeder had 8 kills and 4 total blocks.

“I thought we played pretty tight out of the gates, which I expected with a young team, but Abby set the tone early and the team followed,” said 16th year head coach Diane Flick. “We’ve said all along that we don’t need stars, we need a galaxy. Today we definitely played that way and had some really great performances. I am just really proud of this team for the way they battled, picked each other up, and the fact they never doubted themselves.”

Rockhurst finishes its season with a 34-4 record after entering the NCAA tournament ranked No. 7 in the Division II coaches poll. AVCA Division II National Player of the Year Preecy Seever was limited to just eight kills on a .061 hitting percentage and contributed a team high 8 blocks. Katie Loescher (13 kills, .385 hitting pct.) and Alyssa Arnold (12 kills, 23 digs) also had standout matches for Rockhurst.

The Hawks won the first set 25-20, using an early 6-1 run to pull away from the Vikings. WWU climbed to within two points at 21-19, but couldn’t sustain the comeback, as Rockhurst went on a 4-1 run to end the set. Phelps led the Vikings with four kills, while Roeder, McPherson and Harper each tallied three kills. Buckner recorded 10 digs in the opening set. Seever and Arnold each had four kills to lead the Hawks, who hit .204 compared to WWU’s .176 (5 attack errors).

The Vikings stormed right back to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-17 second-set victory. After building a five-point lead at 18-13, Rockhurst climbed to within 2 points at 19-17, but Western rattled off a 6-0 run to end the set. Harper led the Vikings with five kills and four blocks in the set. WWU recorded five blocks compared to the Hawks' one and out-hit Rockhurst .325 (16 kills-3 errors-40 attacks) to .175.

WWU jumped ahead 2-1 in the match with a commanding 25-15 win in the third set. After opening the set with a 5-0 run, Rockhurst rallied to pull to within two points at 12-10. From that point the Vikings went on a torrid 13-5 run to close out the set with a 25-15 win. Harper and Buckner each had four kills in the set, with Phelps and McPherson contributing 3 each.

Western closed out the match with a come-from-behind 25-22 win in the fourth set. Rockhurst held a 4-point lead at 22-18 when WWU called a timeout. Following the timeout, the Vikings closed out the match with a 7-0 run, six on serves by redshirt freshman setter Brette Boesel, to record the 3-1 advancing to the Final Four. Harper and McPherson each tallied four kills in the set.