Tuesday, October 15, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. - Western Washington takes a 16-match home winning streak into contests Thursday and Saturday against Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage at Sam Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham.

The Vikings last home loss came to UAA in 2011 and they’ve won 30 of their last 31 home contests.  Overall, the Vikings (13-6, 6-0) take a six-match win streak into this week’s contests, while the Seawolves (13-6, 7-0) have won seven straight.

Prior to their first-place showdown on Saturday with WWU, UAA will take on a greatly improved Simon Fraser team on Thursday.  The Clan (7-5 overall) won just one conference match in each of the past two seasons and already have two wins this season, including a road victory last week at Western Oregon.

Western Washington, which is ranked seventh in this week's AVCA Division II national poll,  hasn't lost a set in six conference matches and has lost just four overall.  They posted their 11th and 12th 3-0 victories of the season last week sweeping Saint Martin's and Western Oregon in road matches.

UAA, meanwhile, ran its conference record to 7-0 with a record-setting sweep of Alaska Fairbanks. The Seawolves made just two errors and hit for a .526 percentage, the best in GNAC history for a conference match.  The old record was .473 by Seattle Pacific last year against Saint Martin's.

On the season the Seawolves are hitting .234.  That is 68 points fewer than Western Washington.  UAA, however, is the only team in the conference within 100 points of the Vikings, who rank fourth nationally.

WWU middle blocker Kayla Erickson (.434) and Emily Boerger (.426), as they have been all season, are ranked first and second nationally in individual hitting percentage.

Also in this week's Top 10 nationally are WWU libero Samantha Hutchinson and setter Taylor Dillard.  Hutchinson ranks second in digs (6.79) and Dillard ranks 10th in assists (11.55).

In addition to hitting percentage, the Vikings also rank 10th in kills (14.32).  Seattle Pacific is the only other GNAC team in the Top 10.  They rank 10th in blocks, averaging 2.59 per set.

BLOCKS: SPU is one of four GNAC teams in the Top 30 in blocks.  Northwest Nazarene ranks 16th (2.46).  Western Washington ranks 24th (2.38) and Alaska Anchorage ranks 27th (2.36).  Individually, Jodi Huddleston of UAA ranks 12th (1.30).  Becky Blees of Western Oregon, who ranks 18th (1.22), needs just 24 more blocking assists to tie the GNAC career record.  She currently ranks second with 343.

POLLS: Western Washington is ranked seventh in this week’s AVCA Division II national poll for the second week in a row. The Vikings are the second highest ranked West Region team in the poll.  Defending BYU-Hawaii is ranked fifth.  Other West Region teams ranked include UC San Diego (10th), Sonoma State (11th), Cal State San Bernardino (14th) and Fresno Pacific (23rd).  Alaska Anchorage is among “others receiving votes” and is 30th overall.

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Oct. 13): Individuals (Top 30): Points – 22. Sam Harthun, UAF, 4.48; 29. Kayla Erickson, WWU, 4.34. Kills – 22. Sam Harthun, UAF, 3.92.  Hitting Percentage – 1. Kayla Erickson, WWU, .434; 2. Emily Boerger, WWU, .426. Assists – 10. Taylor Dillard, WWU, 11.55; 29. Catie Fry, CWU, 10.62.  Blocks – 12. Jodi Huddleston, UAA, 1.30; 14. Nikki Lowell, SPU, 1.28; 16. Andrea Terpstra, NNU, 1.26; 18. Becky Blees, WOU, 1.22; 24. Emily Boerger, WWU, 1.16.  Digs – 2. Samantha Hutchinson, WWU, 6.79; 13. Kaely Kight, CWU, 5.61.  Team (Top 30): Kills – 10. Western Washington 14.32.  Hitting Percentage – 4. Western Washington .302.  Assists – 12. Western Washington 13.20.  Blocks – 10. Seattle Pacific 2.59; 16. Northwest Nazarene 2.46; 24. Western Washington 2.38; 27. Alaska Anchorage 2.36. Digs – 23. Western Washington 17.98.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offense -  Rachel Hanses, Central Washington (OH, 5-11, So., Yakima, WA – West Valley) had 26 kills and a .296 percentage to lead the Wildcats to wins over Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings.  Hanses also had five digs and two blocks.

Defense - Jenna Caywood, Northwest Nazarene (MB, Fr., Meridian, ID – Cole Valley Christian) had 17 kills, 14 blocks and hit for a .452 percentage (17-3-31) leading the Crusaders to 3-1 wins over Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific.  She had seven kills and six blocks against MSUB and 10 kills in just 13 attempts  and seven blocks against SPU. 

Honorable Mention – Rachel Roeder, Western Washington (OH, 6-1, So., Sammamish, WA - Issaquah) led the Vikings with 20 kills and six blocks and a  .475 percentage (20-1-40) in 3-0 wins at Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon.  The wins were the Vikings 11th and 12th sweeps of the season including all six of their conference matches ... Julia Mackey, Alaska Anchorage (OH, 5-11, So., Fairbanks, AK – West Valley) keyed a GNAC-record (for conference matches) .526 hitting percentage, tallying 12 kills and making just one error in 16 attempts in a 3-0 win at Alaska Fairbanks.

For more GNAC volleyball highlights check out the GNAC Weekly Report.