Saturday, December 4, 2021

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Never count Western Washington out.

The No. 2 seeded Vikings battled back from significant deficits in each of the first two sets before dominating the third to win the program’s third NCAA West Regional title in the last six years in a three-set sweep of No. 5 seeded Cal State LA Saturday at Cossoulis Arena.

Western Washington rallied from five points down in both the first and second sets to take victories before coming to life in the third to hit .472 with 18 kills to clinch the fourth overall West Region championship for the Vikings with the team’s 19th consecutive win of the season.

Western Washington (24-4) will play in the national quarterfinals on Thursday at the Bob Martinez Athletic Center in Tampa, Florida. The Vikings’ opponent is to be determined after re-seeding by the NCAA Volleyball Committee.

Junior middle blocker Chloe Roetcisoender led the Vikings with 13 kills and six blocks. Her .765 hitting percentage (13 kills, 0 errors, 17 attempts) ties her for the 10th best single-match hitting percentage (12 or more kills) in GNAC history and the best for a GNAC player since 2018.

Sophomore outside hitter Calley Heilborn registered a double-double of 10 kills and 13 digs while junior outside hitter Gabby Gunterman finished with nine kills. Junior middle blocker Olivia Fairchild had eight blocks and sophomore setter Malia Aleaga had 40 assists, four digs and six blocks. Roetcisoender, Gunterman, Aleaga and Fairchild were all named to the All-Tournament Team.

Emily Elliott led Cal State LA with 15 kills and a .375 hitting percentage. Karla Santos added 13 kills while Eliza Cannon had 29 assists as the Golden Eagles finished the season with a 20-10 record.

After stunning defending national champion Cal State San Bernardino the night before, Cal State LA entered with a lot of confidence and it showed in the first set. After battling back-and-forth through the first 10 points, Elliott had a kill that broke a 10-10 tie and keyed a six-point run that put the Golden Eagles up 15-11. A block by Daisy Crenshaw and Alejandra Negron three rallies later made it a five-point advantage at 17-12.

Western Washington had confidence too and a lot of grit, scrapping away to come within two points before winning six of the final seven rallies to take the set. Junior outside hitter Tess Biscup’s kill started the run with the Vikings taking the 23-22 lead on one of six Fairchild blocks in the stanza. Gunterman put it away with her fifth kill of the set for the 25-23 win.

The Golden Eagles won the first five points on the second set, two on blocks by Victoria Duarte, and maintained as much as a four-point through much of the frame. Once again, the Vikings made their run late. A bad set brought WWU to within 23-22 and a block by Roetcisoender and Biscup brought the Vikings even at 24-24. The teams traded the next six points before Roetcisoender gave WWU the lead for good at 28-27 and Fairchild and Aleaga combined for the block for the win.

The Vikings left nothing to chance in the third set. A Biscup kill at 3-2 started a six-point run that Cal State LA would not recover from. Aleaga and Roetcisoender had two kills each in the run and a Roetcisoender kill capped it for an 8-3 lead. Western allowed the Golden Eagles just four points off their own serve in the set as a Biscup kill lifted WWU to the 16-9 lead and Heilborn kill at 21-11 provided the 10-point advantage that the Vikings closed the set with.

The final eight teams will be re-seeded before Thursday’s quarterfinals. Other regional winners that will be potential opponents for Western Washington are Gannon, Tampa, Washburn, Augusta, Daemen, Hillsdale and West Texas A&M.

Joining the four Western Washington players on the All-Tournament Team were Central Washington freshman libero Hannah Stires and freshman outside hitter Marianna Payne.