Tuesday, November 6, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. - Western Washington will try to complete its home schedule with a perfect 9-0 record when it hosts Simon Fraser Saturday at Sam Carver Gymnasium. 

The Vikings, who are ranked 17th in this week’s AVCA national poll, bring a 13-match home win streak into the contest.  They are 26-1 at Carver since late in the 2009 season.

With a No. 2 West Regional ranking the Vikings are in position to possibly host a portion of the West Regional tournament later this month.  BYU-Hawaii is currently the No. 1 ranked team in the region and if they finish No. 1, the NCAA will likely divide the West Regional playoffs into a pair of four-team sub-regionals.   The next regional ranking is due out Wednesday.

WWU earned a pair of 3-0 home wins last week as Marlayna Geary had 19 kills and three players – Kayla Erickson, Emily Boerger and Kelsey Moore – each had 13 kills.  Erickson also had 12 blocks.  Geary currently ranks 10th nationally in points (4.87) and 12th in kills (4.23). She currently also ranks seventh in GNAC history in career kills with 1,288.

Laurie Yearout had 67 assists in the two matches to earn GNAC Red Lion Offensive Player of the Week honors.  Becky Blees of Western Oregon was named the Defensive Player of the Week.

TWO ROAD SWEEPS FOR WOLVES:  Western Oregon, which as the No. 8 ranked team in the region is on the “bubble” for the playoffs, earned two road sweeps as Samantha Ward led the way with 30 kills.  Ward also had 17 digs.  The Wolves, winners of seven in a row, also got 16 kills and a .519 hitting percentage from Krissi Kemper (16-2-27).  WOU completes its season playing three of its final four matches at home including a contest Saturday against regionally seventh-ranked Central Washington.

COMPTON SETS DIGS SCHOOL MARK:  MSU Billings libero Erin Compton had 47 digs increasing her season total to a school-record 491.  She ranks eighth nationally averaging 5.99 per set.  Compton helped the Yellowjackets hold their two opponents to a .138 attack percentage as they earned a split last weekend, defeating Saint Martin’s 3-1 after losing to Western Oregon 3-0.  Monica Grimsrud led MSUB offensively with 35 kills, including a match-high 20 against WOU and a match-high 15 against SMU.

AROUND THE GNAC: Sam Harthun had 38 kills and 21 digs accounting for 40 ½ points as Alaska Fairbanks split two road matches, defeating Simon Fraser 3-2 before losing 3-0 at Western Washington.  The Nanooks also got 21 kills from Megan Morrison in the two matches ...  Julia Mackey had 19 kills as Alaska Anchorage split two matches ... Cailin Fellows had 29 kills and 18 digs in Seattle Pacific’s two matches.  The Falcons also got 22 digs from Nikki Lowell, who hit for a .462 percentage ...  Katy Ferguson led Saint Martin’s with 19 kills in a pair of losses ...Katie Forsyth had 24 kills for Simon Fraser.

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Nov. 4): Team (Top 30): Assists – 13. Western Washington 13.31.  Blocks – 15.  Western Oregon 2.44.  Hitting PCT. – 8. Western Washington .272; 23. Western Oregon .247.  Kills – 17. Western Washington 13.91.  Individuals (Top 30): Assists – 5. Laurie Yearout, WWU, 12.05; 18. Kimya Jafroudi, UAA, 10.98; 26. Shelby Swanson, SPU, 10.69.  Blocks – 15. Becky Blees, WOU, 1.28; 30. Kayla Erickson, WWU, 1.18. Digs – 6. Samantha Hutchinson, WWU, 6.29; 8. Erin Compton, MSUB, 5.99; 29. Kaely Kight, CWU, 5.10. Hitting PCT. – 3. Krissi Kemper, WOU, .413; 26. Erin Smith, CWU, .357; 27. Kayla Erickson, WWU, .355.  Kills – 12. Marlayna Geary, WWU, 4.23; 17. Cailin Fellows, SPU, 4.01. Points – 10. Marlayna Geary, WWU, 4.87.

GNAC Players of the Week