No. 6 BYU-Hawaii 3, Notre Dame de Namur 0
BELMONT, Calif. -- BYU-Hawaii won its first game of the first mainland road trip in three short sets (25-20, 25-14, 25-15) against Notre Dame de Namur on Wednesday.
Shih Ting Chen led the way with 15 kills to lead the match on an efficient .406 hitting percentage. The junior also added 15 digs. Kathleen Collette chipped in seven kills and 10 digs. Redshirt freshman Noel Pauga posted two solo blocks to add a strong defensive presence.
The Seasiders (9-1, 4-1) looked like the No. 6 team in the nation as they took care of Notre Dame de Namur (3-10, 1-4) in three sets. BYU-Hawaii had a late 5-0 run to end the first set 25-20, the closest of the three.
BYU-Hawaii started the second set quickly leaving the Argonauts in the dust. Notre Dame de Namur had two consecutive aces on the Seasiders in an attempt to make a last-minute run. Huafa Saulala put an end to that with a kill to put BYU-Hawaii ahead 24-14.
An offensive error committed by the Argonauts ended the second set 25-14 in favor of the Seasiders.
BYU-Hawaii didn’t look back when it jumped ahead in the third set and closed out the night in Belmont 25-15. Notre Dame de Namur cut the lead to 19-14 at one point but never got any closer as the Seasiders put together a 6-1 run to the end.
No. 9 Western Washington 3, Northwest Nazarene
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Western Washington dominated the net with four players having nine or more kills in sweeping Northwest Nazarene 25-8, 25-9, 25-23 on Thursday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the WWU campus.
It was the home opener for the Vikings, ranked No. 9, who improved to 10-1 overall and 3-0 in league action. They have posted sweeps in nine of their victories.
NNU fell to 7-3 overall and 3-2 in GNAC action with its second consecutive loss following a six-match winning streak. The Crusaders had a hitting percentage of -.009
Jennica McPherson led the Vikings with a match-high 12 kills on .524 hitting and Kayla Erickson had 11. Emily Boerger and Kelsey Moore each had nine.
Erickson and Boerger entered the match ranked one-two nationally in attack percentage. They had four and three blocks, respectively.
