PHOTOS: WWU Athletics
A Successful Saturday for WWU
October 20, 2018
A busy Saturday for Western Washington University proved to be a successful one. The vikings posted victories in women's soccer, men's volleyball, a 3rd & 4th place finish in men's and women's cross country and men's basketball opened the preseason with the annual Blue/White Game.
NO. 18 VIKINGS SHUT OUT WOU 2-0 TO EXTEND UNBEATEN STREAK
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – It was only fitting that on Senior Night in front of a packed crowd at Harrington Field, it was senior defender Taylor Hallquist who scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal less than 10 minutes into Saturday night’s 2-0 shutout victory by No. 18 Western Washington University over Western Oregon University.
Hallquist (Vancouver, WA/Columbia River) scored at the 8:10 mark early in the first half to give the nationally-ranked Vikings the only goal they would need in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference win to extend WWU’s unbeaten streak to 10 consecutive games.
WWU is now 13-2-1 overall and remains in a first-place tie with Concordia at 8-1-1 in GNAC play. The Vikings are 9-0-1 over the last 10 games, which includes seven shutouts. Western Oregon dropped to 5-8-2 overall and 3-6-1 in GNAC play.
“Tonight was a really good defensive performance. We were really sharp in the way we closed on the ball and the way we controlled possession,” said head coach Travis Connell. “Defense is our calling card and we pride ourselves on these performances. Over the last four or five games I think we’ve really played solid defense.”
The Vikings (13-2-1, 8-1-1 GNAC) close out the regular season portion of the schedule next week with a two-game road trip to face Northwest Nazarene in Nampa on Thursday (4 pm MT) and Montana State Billings on Saturday (1 pm MT).
VIKINGS CONTINUE WINNING WAYS WITH SWEEP
AT ALASKA FAIRBANKS
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The No. 4 nationally-ranked Western Washington University volleyball team continued its winning ways recording its 19th consecutive victory with a 3-0 road sweep at Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday afternoon in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at the Alaska Airlines Court.
The Vikings improved to 19-3 overall and remain perfect in GNAC play at 14-0 with the 25-22, 25-20, 25-20 straight-sets victory. WWU has now won its last 32 GNAC contests dating back to last season. Alaska Fairbanks had its seven-match winning streak snapped to fall to 10-11 overall and 8-6 in conference play.
“Today was a great defensive effort with 14 blocks and 54 digs in three sets,” said head coach Diane Flick-Williams. “Mae (Thungc) was a water bug in the back grow, digging a ton of balls.”
The Vikings defense was led by a match-high 22 digs by junior libero Mae Thungc (Kent, WA/Kentridge) and 5 blocks each by senior outside hitter Abby Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) and senior middle Michaela Hall (Centralia, WA). WWU out-blocked the Nanooks 14.0 to 4.0, and had a 54-43 advantage in digs.
In addition to her 5 blocks, Phelps recorded a 11-kill, 16-dig double-double and tallied a match-high 15.5 points. With her 11 kills, Phelps moved into 3rd place in GNAC history with 1,464 career kills.
Hall added 10 kills and junior middle Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) contributed 8 kills and 3 blocks. Senior setter Brette Boesel (Brewster, WA) quarterbacked the offense with 34 assists.
“Brette was solid in every facet of the game and was the ultimate leader for us in a very tough road match,” added Flick-Williams.
The Nanooks were led by 11 kills from Lahra Weber and 9 by Kim Wong. Setter Cate Whiting had 28 assists, 4 kills and 7 digs.
The Vikings (19-3, 14-0 GNAC) will have a quick turnaround hosting Simon Fraser on Tuesday night at Carver Gym with 7 pm GNAC match, and then conclude the busy week of four matches in eight days traveling to face Montana State Billings on Thursday. Both matches will be stream live and feature live statistical updates at GNAC.tv.
MEN PLACE THIRD, WOMEN FOURTH AT 45TH
ANNUAL WWU XC CLASSIC
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's and women's cross country program hosted the 45th Annual WWU Classic on Saturday at Sudden Valley Golf Course in Bellingham.
The 19th-ranked men's team placed 3rd with 94 points, trailing only No. 8 Simon Fraser (40 points) and Alaska Anchorage (51 points), and edging 17th-ranked Colorado-Colorado Springs. The Vikings were led by a 9th-place overall finish by sophomore Eric Hamel (Enumclaw, WA), who finished the 10,000-meter course in 32:18. Redshirt sophomore Ed Kiolbasa (Stillwater, MN/Stillwater Area/North Dakota) finished 20th in 32:56, with WWU’s top five runners all placing in the top 30.
"I thought the men raced very aggressively today and had some great performances,” said WWU head coach Pee Wee Halsell. “They were determined from the start of the race, made up ground in several spots and overall had a great day."
The 14th-ranked women's team placed 4th among the seven college teams that raced with 101 points, trailing only No. 10 Simon Fraser (71 points), No. 8 Alaska Anchorage (76 points) and No. 12 Seattle Pacific (96 points). The Vikings were led by a 16th-place overall finish and 7th among collegiate runners by freshman Rebecca Lehman (Spokane Valley, WA/University), who finished the 6,000-meter course in 22:23. Junior Sophia Galvez (Los Alamos, NM) was 20th overall (10th among college runners) finishing in 22:28. Overall the Vikings had six runners in the top 20 among collegiate runners in the race.
"The women raced hard and had some good performances,” added Halsell. “They will continue to build up and I am confident they will have their best races of the season when they really count at the GNAC Championships and regional meet."
The 45th Annual WWU Classic was raced at Sudden Valley Golf Course, after being hosted for several years at Lake Padden Park.
"We really enjoyed coming out to Sudden Valley Golf Course and appreciate all they did to accommodate this great event to make for a wonderful student-athlete experience. The weather was great, the course was great, the racing was great. It was a good day for the Vikings," said Halsell.
MEN’S HOOPS OPENS PRESEASON WITH ANNUAL BLUE-WHITE GAME
BELLINGHAM, Wash – The Western Washington University men’s basketball team opened its preseason schedule with the annual Blue-White Game on Saturday on WECU Court in Carver Gym.
The Blue team, led by assistant coach Atiavo Jude and Director of Basketball Operations Jonathan Kim, edged the White team 102-96.
The Blue were led by a pair of redshirt junior guards, with Leif Anderson (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) scoring a game-high 27 points on 7-for-12 shooting (6-for-10 3FG) and 25 points from Micah Winn (Los Angeles, CA/Crenshaw/Cerritos College) on 8-for-16 shooting (4-for-6 3FG). Senior co-captain Siaan Rojas (Concord, CA/Santa Rosa JC) was closed to a double-double with 17 points and 9 rebounds.
The White squad was led by 22 points from freshman point guard D’Angelo Minnis (Covington, WA/Kentwood) on 8-for-18 shooting (6-for-11 3FG). Senior center Logan Schilder (Bellingham, WA), who is likely going to utilize a redshirt season the 2018-19 season, recorded an 18-point, 14-rebound double-double. Freshman forward Jalen Green (Renton, WA/Lindbergh) added 21 points on 10-for-18 shooting and grabbed 9 rebounds.
“I was very impressed with our players mindset coming into the game. Usually these games can get sloppy, but today everyone worked at playing as a team,” said head coach Tony Dominguez. “The ball moved well and there was a lot of encouragement towards each other. Of course we had some very good individual performances, but the team chemistry really was the highlight today.”
Following exhibition games vs. the Whatcom Slam (Sat., Oct. 27, 2 pm) and the Seattle Mountaineers (Tue., Oct. 30, 7 pm), the Vikings officially open the season Nov. 9-10 traveling to play a pair of games in the CCAA/GNAC Challenge against Cal State Dominguez Hills and tournament host UC San Diego.
WWU’s first home games on WECU Court in Carver Gym will be Nov. 23 and Nov. 24 when the Vikings host Canadian schools Capilano and Langara College to Bellingham.
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