The student section in Carver Gym was in a frenzy Saturday night as Western's volleyball team came out with intensity, ousting longtime rivals the Central Washington University Wildcats in a hard-fought 3-0 straight set sweep.

“Western has a high quality program and they always do well; they are so exciting to watch,” said Western alumna Holly Degroot, who came back to support the team.

Members of the Western men’s basketball team were also in the stands to show support for the volleyball team, including Vikings senior forward Michael Duty, who was loud and boisterous throughout the match, distracting Wildcat players.

The Wildcats seemed to be startled the whole match by the fandom that filled Carver Gym, as they had more unforced errors than they did kills.

“This is a very tough place to play," Central senior Meggie Graf said. "Western always has high energy for their matches and you always have to be at their level.”

The Vikings improved their overall record to 11-6 and are 4-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.

Western freshman Marlayna Geary, nicknamed Thunder, exemplified the moniker Saturday, sending blistering fast balls to the Wildcat side of the net to earn a match-high total of 19 kills.

“We just kept swinging hard and continued to be aggressive all night,” Geary said. “We never gave up, and best of all, we executed tonight. We put the ball down.”

Western sophomore Emily Jepsen continued her defensive dominance as she again led the team with five blocks and continued her explosive offense, reaching double digits in kills with 10.

After a dominant first set, the Vikings began to make simple errors and trailed at one point in the set 7-12.

 “Central got into a rhythm and they settled in,” Western head coach Diane Flick said. “We get too complex and make too many errors sometimes.”

After a timeout, the Vikings came out to rally, fending off one game point after another to finally pull out a closely contested second set 31-29 victory.

Western then came out of the intermission energized and ready to win.

 “We told them that they need to react better to rallies and tough points, and not let emotion fluster them. That’s how we get too complex and make errors,” Flick said.

The Vikings returned to form after a brief intermission with their communication and team chemistry in sync.

 They went out to a 15-7 lead and never looked back as they went on to dismantle the Wildcats, winning the set 25-16 and the match 3-0.

The Vikings logged a .400 hitting percentage. It was their sixth straight set sweep of this young season.

“They really inspire me when I watch them,” Western alumna Alissa Swank said. “I wish I was a volleyball player; they [the women] are amazing.”

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