LACEY, WA — Western Washington rolled into Marcus Pavilion on Thursday, ready to face off against the Saints Volleyball team (4-9, 2-3 GNAC) in a key conference matchup.

From the start, the Saints and Vikings traded points in a thrilling back-and-forth battle. However, midway through the first set, Western Washington found their rhythm, pulling ahead to take the set 25-17. Saints junior outside hitter Kingsley Mason stood out early and would tally nine kills and three digs on the night, including five blocks on the defensive side of the ball. Tiffany Lam and Aundrea Oxentine would lead the offensive effort with 19 and 13 assists respectively. Lam would also have 11 digs on the evening, succeeded only by libero Abigail Halstead, who would have 12 of her own.

The second set would be another competitive set, with the Saints managing to pull away for a brief moment as they would claim a 16-12 lead. The Vikings would find their footing and keep the set going beyond the normal 25-point margin. WWU would ultimately claim the set 29-27. Zoey Crimin would begin to heat up in the second set for the Saints, recording ten kills on the night with a .500 attack percentage. Middle blocker Nadia Gallegos stepped up on the defensive side of things for SMU, contributing five blocks at the net. Gallegos would also tally three kills on five attacks during the match.

In the third set, the Saints would be on the back foot early as they would take a timeout after an early 5-1 Vikings lead. SMU would fight back, but WWU would continue to keep up with their scoring efforts, eventually extending their lead to 20-14. The Saints would find life thanks to a kill by Emmy Hansen and would score five of the next six points to cut the Vikings' lead down to two with a score of 21-19. The Vikings would just hold on to their two-point lead and ultimately claim the set and match, 25-23.

Emily Garten would finish the night with nine kills and eight digs while Jennifer Soha would add six kills and three digs to the team effort. Hansen would go on to contribute seven kills and eight digs in total, and Madison Thomas and Mia Arambula would see time on the court for the Saints.