Tuesday, October 14, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. –   GNAC co-leader Northwest Nazarene continued its slow climb in the American Volleyball Coaches national poll this week.

The Crusaders (15-2, 8-1), who debuted in the poll Sept. 22 at No. 23, have moved from 19th to 18th and this week to 17th.

Western Washington (14-4, 7-2), which trails NNU and unranked Alaska Anchorage (14-3, 8-1) in the conference standings by one match, moved up to ninth in the national poll, matching its highest ranking of the season.  WWU was also ranked eighth in the inaugural poll on Sept. 8.

Central Washington (12-5, 5-4) fell one slot to 24th despite posting a pair of victories.  UAA, meanwhile, still couldn’t crack the Top 25 despite its lofty position in the GNAC.  The Seawolves are “among others receiving votes” and are 30th overall.

The national poll is purely for show; the important one is the NCAA West Regional poll, which will debut Wednesday, Oct. 29.

That poll will determine the five teams that join the GNAC, PacWest and California Collegiate  champions in the NCAA Regional Nov. 20-22 at a site to be determined.

The winner of the regional will advance to the NCAA Elite 8  Dec. 4-6 at Louisville, Kent.

GNAC teams begin the second half of their conference schedules Thursday.

Northwest Nazarene is at home to take on Saint Martin’s (4-16, 1-8) and Alaska Anchorage  hits the road visiting Seattle Pacific (10-7, 4-5).

Elsewhere Western Oregon (2-15, 0-9) visits Central Washington and Alaska (2-15, 2-7) travels to Montana to take on Montana State Billings (9-8, 4-5).

Western Washington and Simon Fraser are idle Thursday before playing each other Saturday at Burnaby.  That is the only contest this week matching teams with winning conference records.

AROUND THE GNAC

Hutchinson, Northwest Nazarene Maintain National Leads

Samantha Hutchinson of Western Washington held on to her national lead in digs in this week’s NCAA Division II national statistical report.

Hutchinson, who ranks third in GNAC history in career digs with 2,131, is averaging 7.20 digs to top the nation.

She is one of three players ranked nationally in the Top 20.  Northwest Nazarene’s Taylor Roberts ranks sixth in digs per set (6.18) and NNU’s Andrea Terpstra ranks seventh in blocks per set (1.32).

In team categories, Northwest Nazarene is still the national leader in blocks per set (2.81) and ranks third in digs per set (20.27).  Western Washington ranks sixth in the latter category averaging 19.94.

GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offense – Kayla Erickson, Western Washington (MB, 6-0, Sr., Gig Harbor, WA - Peninsula) and Jordan Deming, Central Washington (OH, 5-9, So., Hillsboro, OR – Century) each hit for high percentages leading their respective teams to a pair of 3-0 victories.  Erickson had 30 kills and hit for a .490 percentage in sweeps at Western Oregon and Saint Martin’s.  She  also had a team-high five blocks.  Deming was charged with just three errors and hit for a .469 percentage (18-3-32) in wins over Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific.  She also had three blocks and 12 digs.

Defense – Madi Farrell, Northwest Nazarene (MB, 6-2, Fr., Coeur d’Alene, ID – Lake City) had 13 blocks, including 10 in a 3-1 conquest of Montana State Billings Thursday, as the Crusaders completed the first-half of the conference season in a tie for first with Alaska Anchorage.    The true-freshman also had nine kills in that contest and 14 for the week while hitting at a .394 clip (14-1-33).

LAST WEEK’S SCORES: Thursday - MSU Billings 0 at Central Washington 3 (25-23, 25-20, 25-12); Seattle Pacific 0 at Northwest Nazarene 3 (25-15, 15-19, 25-12); Simon Fraser 3 at Saint Martin’s 0 (25-11, 25-21, 26-24); Western Washington 3 at Western Oregon 0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-18). Saturday – Alaska 0 at Alaska Anchorage 3 (25-22, 25-14, 25-12); Seattle Pacific 0 at Central Washington 3 (25-20, 25-13, 25-16); MSU Billings 1 at Northwest Nazarene 3 (25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 25-13); Western Washington 3 at Saint Martin’s 0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-11); Simon Fraser 3 at Western Oregon 1 (19-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-22).

Team Notes

Alaska:    Sam Harthun had 13 kills and Brooke Mattice had 11 in Saturday’s loss at Anchorage.  Harthun needs 43 more kills to join the 1000-kill club.  She already is a member of the 1,000-point club with 1,062.

Alaska Anchorage:  Katelynn Zanders had 13 kills increasing her career total to 893, which ranks 45^th in GNAC history.  Quinn Barker had a team-high 17 digs as the Seawolves held the Nanooks to a .087 percentage.

Central Washington:  Led by Jordan Deming who hit .469 (18-3-32), the Wildcats hit .303 and held their opponents to a .157 percentage in a pair of 3-0 victories.  Linden Firethorne led the offense with 23 kills and also had seven blocks.  Julie Hulbert had nine blocks and  Kaitlin Quirk had six increasing her career total to 250.  That ranks 42^nd in GNAC history.

Montana State Billings: Chelsey Walter had 25 kills and Alaina Gentili had 21 and a team-best six blocks in road losses at Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene.   Kyndal Williams was credited with 78 assists, moving into 15^th place on the GNAC all-time list with 2,656.

Northwest Nazarene:  Elayna Rice led a balanced attack with 24 kills in home wins against Seattle Pacific and MSU Billings.  Andrea Terpstra and Kendra Bodine had 20 each and Madi Farrell had 14.  Farrell also had 13 blocks and Terpstra, who hit .400 (20-4-40) had 11.

Saint Martin’s: Maddie Knecht paced the Saints with 15 kills in home losses to Simon Fraser and Western Washington.  Kyra Davidson had 13 kills and eight blocks.  Hope Mortensen paced the Saints with 10 blocks.

Seattle Pacific: Madi Cavell had 21 kills  in matches at Nampa and Ellensburg and now ranks 50^th in GNAC history with 842.  Hannah Lautenbach and Jessica Miller each had five blocks for the Falcons.  Lautenbach also had 11 kills.

Simon Fraser:  Amanda Renkema had 25 kills and hit for a .327 percentage in road wins at Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon as the Clan improved to 6-3 in conference contests, matching its 2013 GNAC win total when it finished 6-12.  Madeline Hait had seven blocks and Alison McKay was credited with 41 digs.

Western Oregon: Hannah Deede led the Wolves with 22 kills and seven blocks in home matches against Western Oregon and Simon Fraser.  Samantha Moore also had seven blocks.  Sheila de La Cruz had 61 digs for an average of 8.71 per set, more than double her season average of 4.23.

Western Washington: Kayla Erickson averaged five kills per set and hit .490 (30-5-51) in sweeps of Western Oregon and Saint Martin’s.  The Vikings outhit their opponents .242 to .077  as setter Kristina Tribley averaged 12.50 assists per set (75 total).  Samantha Hutchinson had 44 digs (7.33 per set), slightly higher than her national-leading average of 7.20.