MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Cal State San Marcos volleyball team dropped its opening match of the D2 West Region Showcase to host Western Oregon on Thursday night.
 
The Cougars fall to 2-3 overall while the Wolves improve to 3-1 on the season.
 
Junior outside hitter Courtney Hulla and sophomore middle blocker Maddy Newcombe each tallied 11 kills in the contest. Freshman libero Grecia Cordero-Barr collected 18 digs while serving up three aces. Junior Lauren Lee dished out 24 assists while classmate Faith Fortuné notched six kills and five blocks.
 
The Cougars opened the match with a Fortuné-Lee block but the Wolves quickly took over from there, cruising to a 25-12 victory.
 
CSUSM came out in the second set with a vengeance. The match consisted of 15 ties and nine lead changes. The Cougars took its biggest lead of the game at 19-17 on a block by Fortuné and sophomore Madi Anderson. The Wolves responded with a 5-0 run that eventually capitalized on with a 25-21 win.
 
The third set was similar to the previous one with both teams taking turns with the lead. WOU lead by as many as four points halfway through the set but CSUSM battled back to even the set at 23-23 on a Hulla crosscourt kill from the right side. Kills by Alisha Bettinson and Jenna Compton secured the sweep with a 25-23 third set win.
 
CSUSM dominated with a 5-to-1 service ace ratio and had a slight edge over blocks at 7-6 against WOU. The Wolves tallied 58 digs and 40 kills to CSUSM's 50 and 37, respectively.
 
Bettinson led WOU's offense with 16 kills with Compton adding eight.
 
The Cougars will take the court twice on Friday, Sept. 8, facing Fresno Pacific for the second time this season at 12:30 p.m. before closing out the night against Chaminade at 8 p.m. CSUSM swept the Sunbirds last weekend at the Cougar Classic.