Monday, October 22, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. - Two more sweeps have helped Western Washington climb to 12th place in this week's AVCA NCAA Division II national volleyball poll.

The Vikings were ranked 15th last week, but swept past Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene.  CWU's loss dropped the Wildcats just one position in the poll as it only fell from 21st to 22nd.

Western Washington (17-2, 10-1) has won seven straight matches all by 3-0 margins since losing 3-1 on Sept. 22 at Central Washington.  WWU risks its win streak and its one match lead in the conference race over CWU (15-5, 9-2) Thursday when it travels to Monmouth to take on fourth-place Western Oregon (14-5, 7-3) which is coming off a 3-0 road win over third-place Alaska Anchorage (13-6, 8-3).

Elsewhere Thursday, Central Washington hosts Montana State Billings, Seattle Pacific travels to Nampa to take on Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser plays at Saint Martin's.  Alaska Anchorage is idle until Saturday when it plays at Alaska Fairbanks.

Geary Ranks 10th in Kills

Western Washington's Marlayna Geary ranks 10th in kills (4.29) and ninth in points (4.92) in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report.

Geary had 23 kills in the Vikings’ sweeps of Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene last week increasing her career kill total to 1,237.  She ranks 11th in kills in GNAC history and needs just 18 more to crack the Top 10.  She is second all-time in Viking school history.  

Two other Viking players are also ranked in the Top 10.  Setter Laurie Yearout ranks third in assists (12.25) and libero Samantha Hutchinson ranks sixth in digs (6.17).

Western Oregon, which hosts the Vikings Thursday,   has a pair of nationally ranked middle blockers.   Krissi Kemper ranks third in hitting percentage (.413) and Becky Blees is 15th in blocks (1.31).

Libero Erin Compton of Montana State Billings ranks eighth in digs, averaging 5.80 per set. 

In team categories, Western Washington ranks seventh in hitting percentage (.277), eighth in assists (13.60) and 13th in kills (14.15).  Western Oregon is 15th in blocks (2.42).

GNAC Red Lion Players of the Week