Nov. 3, 2007

Box Score

NAMPA, Id. - Western Washington University rallied from a seven-point deficit late in the fourth game and claimed a 26-30, 30-15, 30-21, 31-29 victory over Northwest Nazarene University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball contest Saturday at Johnson Sports Center.

The Vikings, ranked No.2 in the NCAA Division II Pacific Region, improved to 19-4 overall and stayed atop the GNAC at 15-1 with their 14th straight victory.

Outside hitter Emily Castro (Sr., Bellingham/Meridian) led Western with a match-high 22 kills, while middle blocker Tiana Roma (Jr., Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway) and outside hitter Jaime Anderson (Sr., SeaTac/Mount Rainier) each had 19. Roma also had a match-high six blocks.

Northwest Nazarene fell to 16-8 overall and 10-6 in league play, suffering its second straight loss after having six consecutive victories. Cammy Dranginis led the Crusaders with 18 kills.

The Vikings dropped the opening game, the first time that has happened during the streak, but won the next two fairly convincingly. In the fourth game, Northwest Nazarene opened up a 22-15 lead before Western came charging back. The Vikings ran off six straight points, with Castro and Anderson each getting two kills, and eventually tied the game at 23-23.

Northwest Nazarene held its final lead at 27-26 on a kill by Dranginis, but the Vikings closed the match out on a 5-2 run. Castro had seven kills in the final game, and Anderson had six.

"I was really pleased at the end with how we kept our composure," said Western coach Diane Flick. "Tiana (Roma) was absolutely fabulous and was our saving grace many, many times tonight."

Libero Courtney Schneider (Sr., Snohomish) had a match-high 35 kills, her 21st match with 20 digs or more, tying the GNAC record she set last season. Schneider, who is looking to become the first NCAA II player to take back-to-back national titles in digs per game, leads the country with a 7.66 average. She also increased her school and GNAC career-record total to 2,472, which ranks sixth all-time in NCAA II.

Schneider's career per game average of 6.90 is national-record pace, well ahead of the current standard (6.06).

Castro also had 16 digs for the Vikings, setter Katie Robinson (Sr., Everson/Nooksack Valley) 14 digs and 69 assists, and Anderson 11 digs and five blocks. Middle blocker Angie Alvord (Jr., Laurel/Meridian) had nine kills, seven digs, five blocks and five service aces.

Western closes out its regular season with two GNAC counters at home, entertaining Western Oregon on Thursday (7 p.m.) and Saint Martin's on Saturday (7 p.m.).