In her final weekend at home, senior Natali Murdock (Phoenix, AZ, Pinnacle High School) produced a match-high 22 kills to defeat Fort Lewis College, 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 17-25, 25-21). The Mustangs are now 11-9 overall and 9-6 in RMAC play. With the win, WNMU bumps up to second place in the West Division.

Fort Lewis falls to 14-9 on the season and 8-7 in the conference and also slips to third in the standings.

In the first set of the night, the score was knotted at nine when a Skyhawk hitting error, coupled with kills by WNMU's Murdock and Jordan Johnston (Boise, ID, Centennial High School), forced a Fort Lewis timeout and gave a boost WNMU needed. The timeout did help the Skyhawks recover as they recorded six additional hitting errors to end the set. Fort Lewis hit only .057 in the first go-around.

The second set was close until the final six points. With the Mustangs up 19-16, the purple and gold rattled off a 5-0 run. WNMU was then able to go into the locker room with a 2-0 lead after a costly Skyhawk service error.

As has happened many times this season, WNMU came out of the intermission sluggish. Fort Lewis had three strong rallies, including two by Heather Bryant to jump ahead 22-16. Back-to-back attacking errors by the Mustangs forced a fourth set. WNMU hit only .119 in the third meeting after hitting a solid .405 in the second.

WNMU blocking was the difference maker in the fourth and final. WNMU put up four big walls, compared to just one in their first three sets, to hold the Skyhawk offense to just .105 hitting.

WNMU setter Alyssa Meihack (Fallon, NV, Churchill County High School) finished the match with 48 assists, three service aces, and 12 digs. Outside hitter Angelina Pulu (Long Beach, CA, Robert A. Millikan High School) had 12 kills and a match-high 19 digs.

Click here for complete statistics.