Box Score ELLENSBURG, Wash.– The Central Washington University Wildcats defeated the Simon Fraser University Clan Thursday night 3-1 (25-18,25-21,20-25,25-23) in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball matchup.

The loss dropped the Clan to 8-5 and into fifth place in the GNAC with five games remaining. All four teams above SFU in the conference are currently regionally ranked teams, including the No. 5 ranked Wildcats. SFU is 14-7 overall and unranked in the West Region.

Central Washington (16-6, 9-5) ends the night in fourth place in the GNAC and improved its home record to 10-1 on the season.

The Wildcats went up two games to zero and looked to be in control of the match before the Clan turned things around in the third set, defeating CWU 25-20 and cutting the Wildcats lead to 2-1.

The teams traded blows in the fourth set and with the Clan leading 23-22, Linden Firethorne tied the match up with a kill and Julie Hulbert finished on Simon Fraser with back-to-back kills to give the Wildcats the 25-23 victory and the 3-1 match win.

"It was a tough loss," said Clan head coach Gina Schmidt. "Aside from the first set, I thought we played well enough to win. Unfortunately, we didn't have any breaks go our way."

Kelsey Robinson (16), Amanda Renkema (12) and Madeline Hait (10) were the most effective hitters on the night, all with double-digit kills for the Clan.  Renkema also led the team with nine blocks.

Clan senior setter Brooklyn Gould-Bradbury (Lake Tapps, WA) led the team with 25 assists while junior setter Danielle Curtis (North Vancouver) added 22. Sophomore Alison McKay (Port Moody, BC) led SFU with 22 digs.

Next up for SFU is a road match Saturday against Northwest Nazarene Crusaders. The Clan will have to perform at the top of its game. Northwest Nazarene was ranked No. 1 this week in the first official NCAA West Regional volleyball poll of the 2014 season.

The ranking is the first of three that the NCAA will conduct.  The rankings will eventually determine which five at-large teams join the champions of the GNAC, PacWest and California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) in the regional tournament Nov. 20-22.

The Crusaders are second in blocks (2.72) and sixth in digs (19.91) in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report.