Faced with adjustments — from changing their formation to having new fresh-faces replacing long-time players — the CWU Volleyball team needed to find their own identity and was not easy at first.

With last years front-runner for the starting setter position Kelly McClung was not listed on the roster,  three freshmen were the only setters on the roster.

Instead of having one Freshman be the lone setter on the court, the coaching staff decided to change their formation to a 6-2 in order to have two setters playing at once. The job was won by Nikki Cook and Gaby Aihara.

“It’s been an amazing experience, I’m really thankful for it and I’ve always wanted to do it,” Aihara said. “It’s definitely a lot more demanding than I thought,but I like the challenge.”

For Aihara, some of the challenges she has faced have been: managing a practice schedule, workouts and balancing a class schedule.

“As a freshman, there’s a lot of pressure and I think I’m handling it pretty well,” Aihara said.

On the court, the transition from high school to D-II Volleyball can also be an adjustment.

“Collegiate volleyball is a lot faster, a lot stronger girls and everyone is passionate about what they’re doing,” Aihara said.

For the season Aihara has 254 assists for an average of 5.52 assists per set while her partner Cook has 229 assists for an average of 4.98 assists per set.

“I think [Cook’s] an awesome setter,” Aihara said. “I like her as a teammate — she trains hard I respect that.”

Another Freshman making a big impact is defensive specialist and libero Kyla Morgan, she leads the team with 206 digs.

“From the first day of preseason I knew she was going to be a big help for us,” senior outside hitter Kiah Jones said.

Jones calls Morgan, “lightning quick,” a great passer and defender, while having an overall knowledge of the game.

“Her ability just to play the game has really helped her feel more comfortable out on the court as a true freshman, she came in with a lot of innate type of abilities,” head coach Mario Andaya said.

The Wildcats’ strength is blocking the ball; they lead the GNAC with an average of 2.72 blocks per set.

“We feed off our block, we’re physically build that way. We can really disrupt teams and get the ball back if not block the ball,” Andaya said.

Jones believes that the advantage the blockers have is players who can jump over 10 feet.

After traveling to Romeoville, Illinois for the Flyer Festival, for the team’s first competition of the year, the Wildcats left with zero wins and four losses.

After the 0-4 start the Wildcats went to San Diego, California five days later they played four teams — three from California and one Hawaii school, locations that have been called “hot beds” for volleyball.

The Wildcats won all four games winning 12 sets while their opponents won two.

“We definitely feel like we found who we are as a team now [that] we are really playing well together,” Jones said.

After playing in California, the Wildcats started conference play and won the first three of four games. The Wildcats beat Concordia University 3-2, Northwest Nazarene University 3-1 and Montana State University Billings 3-0 with their only loss coming to Western Oregon University 3-2.

“You saw right away from the first game Simon Fraser beating Western Washington that it’s really anybody’s race,” Jones said.

Andaya’s focus for GNAC play is to make sure they are a difficult opponent to handle.

With the Wildcats sitting at 7-5 overall the Wildcats are currently tied for second place in the GNAC with a 3-1 record.