#17 Wayne State 3 #9 Western Washington 0
#17 Wayne State College forced 22 Western Washington attack errors and Jazlin DeHaan and
Maggie Brahmer each recorded 11 kills as the Wildcats produced a 25-22, 25-17, 25-22 win over the 9
th-ranked Vikings Friday afternoon at the Colorado Premier Tournament in Denver. WSC improves to 5-0 with the win while Western Washington falls to 3-1.
The Wildcats got off to a quick start, leading 9-4 and 13-9 before the Vikings rallied to grab a 16-14 advantage in the first set. WSC still trailed 19-17, but the 'Cats forced a pair of WWU errors and used a
Kelsie Cada kill for a 20-19 lead. After the Vikings knotted the score at 20-20, the Wildcats used kills from
Taya Beller, a DeHaan block and Viking attack error to take a 23-20 lead and win the first set 25-22.
WSC led from start to finish in the second set for a 25-17 win. The 'Cats took an early 7-3 lead to force a Viking timeout and expanded the lead to 22-14 before closing with a set win that saw the Wildcats hit .609 (14 kills on 23 attacks with no errors). DeHaan had the hot hand for the Wildcats in the set with seven kills on just eight swings.
The third set was a much closer battle with 10 ties and six lead changes. WSC trailed 15-14, but took a 21-16 lead thanks to a
Taya Beller service ace, kills from Brahmer and DeHaan to go with four WWU attack errors and the 'Cats closed with another sweep by winning the final set 25-22.
Wayne State hit .262 in the contest with 39 kills and just 12 errors on 103 attacks. Western Washington had 37 kills and 22 errors on 111 attempts for a .135 attack percentage. WSC held a 49-43 edge in digs over the Vikings, 6-4 in blocks and 4-3 in service aces.
Brahmer had 11 kills and a .562 hitting percentage to lead WSC while DeHaan added 11 kills in the win with three blocks.
Kelsie Cada had a team-high 13 digs followed by
Alaina Wolff with 11 and
Jordan McCormick 10.
Rachel Walker was credited with 31 set assists.
The 17
th-ranked Wildcats face #2 Angelo State of Texas Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Central Time at the Colorado Premier Tournament in Denver.