Friday, December 11, 2015
by Western Washington Athletic Communications

TAMPA, Fla. – In an ironic way, Western Washington's incredible season ended exactly the way it began.

The Vikings saw the year end in the NCAA Division II semifinals, taking a three-set loss to Wheeling Jesuit Friday at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on the University of Tampa campus. The ending is ironic because the two teams met on the same floor to begin the season, with that match seeing the Vikings fall in three sets.

Just like that first meeting, this one was with 30 tie scores and 14 lead changes over the three-sets.

Sophomore opposite Joellee Buckner tallied a double-double with a match-high 16 kills and added 12 digs. Senior opposite Jennica McPherson also had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Abby Phelps finished with a team-high 17 digs.

“We just needed that extra something today and could not quite find it,” said 16th year head coach Diane Flick. “I wish we were firing on all cylinders so that we could have put up a better fight. What else can I say about this season? I have to keep it in perspective of what we have accomplished. We are a Final Four team, and that is something to be very, very proud of.”

The Vikings completed their season with a 27-6 record, the fifth most wins in program history. This was Western’s second appearance in the Final Four, joining the 2007 squad that finished runner-up.

Wheeling Jesuit (38-4) advances to National Championship match tomorrow at 5 p.m., ET against the winner of tonight’s Wayne State (Neb.)/Palm Beach Atlantic match (PBA up 2-0 at time of this release). This is the fifth consecutive season the Cardinals have advanced as far as the Elite 8, but the first time they will play in the National Championship Match. WJU entered the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 10 in the nation in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll.

The Cardinals out-hit the Vikings .280-.188 in the match, and were led by double-doubles from Kayce Krucki (10 kills, 12 digs) and Emma Schleucher (14 kills, 13 digs). Libero Jessica Thobe recorded a match-high 24 digs.

Wheeling jumped out to the early 1-0 lead with a 25-20 win, pulling away midway through the first set with an 11-6 run after being tied 14-14. Buckner led the Vikings with 5 kills on a .417 hitting percentage. WWU made seven hitting errors and was held to a .105 hitting percentage compared to Wheeling’s .234 mark. Schleucher recorded four kills and Haley Kindall had four blocks for the Cardinals. The set featured seven ties and three lead changes.

WJU took the 2-0 lead with a 25-19 second-set victory. WWU held an early lead, but the Cardinals pulled away with a 5-1 run to go up 10-7 and never looked back. McPherson led the Vikings with 4 kills and a pair of block assists. Sydney Obringer recorded four kills and two block assists to lead the Cardinals.

The final set featured 19 tie scores and eight lead changes before Wheeling prevailed 27-25. The Vikings fought off a pair of match points at to tie the set at 24-24 and 25-25, but back-to-back kills by Kindall ended the match sending the Cardinals to the national final. Buckner tallied nine of her team-high 16 kills in the third set.

Match Notes: WWU finished with 27 wins, fifth most in program history…9th trip to the NCAA Tournament and second to the Final 4 (also 2007)…Rachel Roeder completed her career with 900 kills, 15th most in program history…Jennica McPherson recorded 1,167 digs (ninth) and 127 service aces (13th) to etch her name in the WWU record books…Kayleigh Harper finished with 171 total blocks,  fifth most in WWU single-season history…the Vikings active roster of 13 players consisted of 10 redshirt freshman and sophomores.