NAMPA, Idaho - Western Washington's Marlayna Geary posted a match-high 20 kills as the Vikings defeated Northwest Nazarene University 3-1 on Thursday night in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the Johnson Sports Center.

 

Geary was joined by Emily Jepsen with 14 kills and Megan Amundson with 13 as the Vikings improved to 16-9 overall and 9-5 in the GNAC. 

 

The Crusaders were led by Lindsay Grant with 12 kills, while Carly and Cammy Dranginis each had 11.  NNU falls to 14-12 overall and 7-6 in GNAC play.

 

"Carly and Becky (Flores) had solid matches," commented NNU head coach Jared Sliger on his freshman front-line players.  Flores finished with seven kills, while Dranginis added four blocks to her stat line.

 

"We responded in set two with our highest kills in a set this season...but couldn't keep it rolling in games two and three," Sliger added.

 

Allison Gotz led the Viking defense with a match-high 28 digs, with NNU's defensive standout Haley Heveren finishing with 20.

 

The Crusaders will play their final home match of the season on Saturday night, hosting Western Oregon University at 7:00 p.m. as part of the 2009 NNU Homecoming celebration.