Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Eastern Washington
Wildcats get first Big Sky win
10/23/2010 4:42:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Down 2-0 and in danger of being swept off their home court, the Weber State University women's volleyball team found a dose of quiet swagger and staged an exhilarating comeback, taking down Eastern Washington 3-2 (23-25, 11-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-12) for its first Big Sky Conference victory of the season.
"We got a lot of great efforts tonight," Weber State coach Al Givens said. "I couldn't be more proud of the players for battling back to win the match."
Several Wildcats set new career highs in the match, including sophomore middle blocker Carissa Noble. Noble had a career-high 13 kills, including three in the decisive fifth set. She also finished with five total blocks for the fourth time this season.
Sophomore left side hitter Bethany Wray had 16 kills and a career-high seven total blocks, more than doubling her previous season high. Wray also had four service aces and seven digs.
Redshirt-freshman Elli Graff had a career-high 12 kills, hitting .304 on a career-high 23 attempts. Graff also set a new career high with seven total blocks, eclipsing her previous high-water mark of six.
Redshirt-freshman Briana Wilms, making her first career start, had a career-high eight kills - including four in the opening set on just five attempts. Wilms also had a pair of blocks and a pair of digs for the Wildcats, who snapped an 11-match losing streak and avenged a heart-breaking five-set loss to the Eagles earlier this season in Cheney, Wash.
Sophomore setter Caitlin Penrod made her fifth consecutive start and finished with 19 assists, while senior setter Kim Lissinna returned to the court for the first time since injuring her knee on Oct. 2 vs. Montana. Lissinna finished with 24 assists and seven digs.
The first set was a nail-biter, with the Eagles edging out the Wildcats by two points to take the 1-0 lead. The second set was all Eastern Washington as it stormed out to a 25-11 victory despite getting just nine kills and hitting .240. Weber State hit -091 in the second set.
Weber State trailed 19-18 late in the third set, but three consecutive Wildcats' blocks shifted WSU into the drivers set with a 21-19 advantage. Noble had assisted on all three blocks during the surge, sharing two with Wray and the third with Wilms. From a 22-22 tie, the Wildcats scored the final three points of the set capped with Wray's service ace. The set victory for the Wildcats snapped a 17-set skid dating back to the first set against Montana on Oct. 2.
Weber State fell behind 9-5 in the fourth set and still trailed 13-11, but a dramatic 8-1 surge put Weber State in front 19-15. Wray had two kills, a service ace and an assisted block during the surge, and capped the 25-21 set victory with a kill to set up the decisive fifth set.
The Wildcats trailed 5-3 early in the fifth, but scored six of seven points to surge ahead 9-6. The Eagles scored to cut it to 11-9, but Noble came up with a pair of huge swings that resulted in kills and Weber State surged ahead 13-9 before closing out the match on a kill from Wray.
Weber State ended a seven-match losing streak to Eastern Washington, earning their first win over the Eagles since a 3-1 win on Sept. 13, 2007 in Cheney, Wash. It's WSU's first home win over EWU since Sept. 22, 2005.
Weber State doesn't have much time to celebrate, having to rapidly prepare for Portland State on Saturday night. The Vikings, who were league co-leaders with Northern Colorado heading into Friday night, dropped a four-set match at Idaho State on Friday.
First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Swenson Gym.
