Ending its 16 game winning streak, Western women’s volleyball fell 3-0 to Northwest Nazarene University on Thursday, Oct. 22.
The upset cost the Vikings its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference loss since Sept. 4 and allowed Nazarene their 7th consecutive win. Nazarene battled Western neck and neck with three identical game wins to sweep the match with a score of 25-23.
“We just made errors at bad times,” head coach Diane Flick said.
Redshirt freshman and outside hitter Abby Phelps led the team with 15 kills at .400 hitting percentage.
“That is outstanding against a quality team like NNU,” Flick said.
Sophomore setter Kristina Tribley said that Phelps did a fantastic job. She also pointed out that redshirt freshman and middle blocker Kayleigh Harper had some great blocks.
Harper led Western with seven blocks, one of which was a solo block.
“We had some bright spots and some good moments, we just didn’t sustain it for a long enough period of time,” Flick said.
Senior opposite Jennica McPherson contributed seven kills at a .500 hitting percentage, 10 digs and two service aces, according to Western Athletics.
“The best thing about tonight is we have some fire for tomorrow to get better before Central,” Tribley said. “Trust me, we are going to get better in one day.”
As the Vikings prepare to take on Central Washington University, the team needs to focus on following the game plan, redshirt freshman and middle blocker Joslyn Bopray said.
The team needs to work on blocking and defense before Saturday’s game, Flick said. Western needs to apply some pressure to people’s offenses and they weren’t even close to doing that today, she said.
“We need to focus on implementing what our really amazing coaches tell us, and to just do it immediately instead of a game or two later,” Tribley said.
The Vikings will host Central Washington University at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Whatcom Community College Pavillion.
