SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – The Chico State volleyball team was good enough to put a scare into 24th-ranked Western Washington Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Championship Tournament, but the Wildcats weren't good enough to pull out a win. Jaime Anderson and Emily Castro combined for 25 kills and Western Washington blocked 13 attacks for points as No. 2 seed Western Washington advanced to the semifinals with a 3-0 sweep (30-26, 30-19, 30-28) of No. 7 Chico State.
The Wildcats led late in games one and three, but could not get over the hump against a stout Western Washington defense. The Vikings, now winners of 17 in a row, concentrated their efforts on limiting Chico State outside hitters Lindsay Macias and Gillian Heydorff, and succeeded. Though Macias led the Wildcats with 13 kills and broke the Chico State career kills record in the process, she was blocked for points six times and hit only .061. Heydorff was blocked three times and hit just .036 on the way to seven kills.
That did open the door for middles Whitney Johnson (12 kills, .409 hitting percentage) and Crystal Trifeletti (seven kills, .250) to get some things done. The pair combined for six kills early on, getting the Wildcats out to a 20-19 lead in the opening game. But Western Washington smothered three attacks during its game-changing 8-2 run that followed, and then rode that momentum to an easy victory in the second game.
Chico State was well on its way to winning the third game, boasting leads of 26-23 and then 28-26, but it was not to be. The 26-23 lead was wiped out by three straight Vikings kills. And after the Wildcats reclaimed control for a moment at 28-26, Western Washington used a pair of blocks to spark a 4-0 run that ended the match.
The match was the final one in a Chico State uniform for seniors Johnson, Lacy Stringfellow, Samantha Davis and Amanda Ley. Stringfellow, who led Chico State with 21 digs Thursday, finishes her career as the program's all-time digs leader with 1,577.
Macias' final kill late in the third game was the 1,167th of her career, moving her past Stacy Clifton (2001-03) atop the Chico State career kills list. The junior from Irvine also finishes the season atop the school's career kills per game list at 4.13.
Setter Erica Brick, who earned game-high honors with 43 assists, also made school history, becoming the first Wildcat to register 1,000 or more assists in three seasons. With 3,273 career dimes, Brick trails career-leader Christy McCune by just 48 heading into her senior year.
Macias also notched 12 digs to finish the match with a double-double. Kelly Smiland just missed her own double-double, tallying nine kills and 14 digs.
Anderson had 14 kills, 18 digs and three block assists to lead WWU. Castrol had 11 kills and 11 digs. Middle blocker Angie Alvord had six blocks, two solo, while teammate Tiana Roma had seven kills and seven blocks, three of them solo.
The Vikings, champions of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, are now 22-4 on the season while the Wildcats head home with a 16-13 record. Chico State dropped its last five matches and nine of its last 12.
Volleyball Box Score
The Automated ScoreBook
Chico State Univ. vs Western Washington (Nov 15, 2007 at CSU San Bernardino)
Chico State Univ. | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 BRICK, Erica........ 3| 2 0 8 .250| 43| 2 1| 0| 7| 0 0 1| 2
6 HEYDORFF, Gillian... 3| 7 6 28 .036| 0| 1 1| 0| 7| 1 0 0| 0
7 JOHNSON, Whitney.... 3| 12 3 22 .409| 1| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0
10 SMILAND, Kelly...... 3| 9 3 27 .222| 0| 0 2| 1| 14| 1 0 0| 0
11 TRIFELETTI, Crystal. 3| 7 3 16 .250| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
12 MACIAS,Lindsay...... 3| 13 10 49 .061| 0| 0 0| 0| 12| 0 0 0| 0
1 STRINGFELLOW, Lacy.. 3| 0 0 0 .000| 4| 0 1| 1| 21| 0 0 0| 0
3 LEY,Amanda.......... 3| 0 3 3-1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 0
4 RANZAU, Abbey....... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 1 2| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0
13 DAVIS,Samantha...... 1| 1 1 3 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
16 JONES, Amy.......... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 3| 51 29 156 .141| 49| 4 7| 2| 69| 2 0 1| 2
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 2.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 19 11 56 .143 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 14 7 39 .179 Chico State Univ.... (0) 26 19 28 16-13
3 18 11 61 .115 Western Washington.. (3) 30 30 30 22-4
Western Washington | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Anderson, Jaime..... 3| 14 2 47 .255| 0| 0 1| 2| 18| 0 3 0| 0
6 Alvord, Angie....... 3| 5 3 16 .125| 0| 1 0| 0| 4| 2 4 1| 0
7 Hill, Marissa....... 3| 7 0 15 .467| 0| 0 0| 0| 2| 0 4 0| 0
14 Roma, Tiana......... 3| 7 5 22 .091| 2| 0 0| 0| 1| 3 4 0| 0
15 Robinson, Katie..... 3| 4 0 8 .500| 38| 0 1| 0| 5| 0 1 1| 3
16 Castro, Emily....... 3| 11 2 29 .310| 1| 1 0| 2| 11| 0 0 0| 0
3 Gotz, Allison....... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
10 Schneider, Courtney. 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 24| 0 0 0| 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 3| 48 12 137 .263| 42| 2 2| 4| 65| 5 16 2| 3
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 3 46 .239 Site: CSU San Bernardino (Coussoulis Arena)
2 18 3 40 .375 Date: Nov 15, 2007 Attend: 315 Time: 1:26
3 16 6 51 .196 Referees:
