Wednesday, November 20, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. - Western Washington needs just one win or one Alaska Anchorage loss in its final two contests to clinch at least a tie for the GNAC title and the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA regionals, which begin Thursday, Dec. 5.

The Vikings, who are ranked fifth in this week's NCAA Division II West Regional poll, play at Simon Fraser (11-11, 6-10) Thursday before hosting the Clan Saturday. SFU has been the most improved team in the GNAC this fall nearly tripling its 2012 win total when it finished with a record of 4-22.

WWU (21-3) takes a 14-2 conference record and a one-match lead over second-place Alaska Anchorage (19-9, 13-3) into the week.  WWU, however, controls all the tiebreakers to determine the automatic berth based on its two wins against third-place Northwest Nazarene (16-6, 12-4) and its 5-4 set advantage in its two matches with UAA.

UAA, NNU and Central Washington (13-11, 9-7) all hope to get at-large berths to the eight-team regional tournament. The Seawolves are ranked seventh this week and the Crusaders are eighth.  The Wildcats are ranked ninth and will have to move up to make the playoffs.

The tournament field - five at-large teams will join the GNAC, PacWest and CCCA champions - will be announced Monday at 4:30 p.m. Pacific on a web cast on ncaa.com.

Western Washington will take a No. 10 national ranking into Thursday's contest at Simon Fraser.

Elsewhere Thursday, Alaska Anchorage will hope to keep alive its conference championship hopes when it heads to Billings to face MSU Billings (6-19, 3-13).  Alaska Fairbanks (4-23, 3-13) will play at Seattle Pacific (14-10, 1-6), Saint Martin's (7-21, 3-13) visits Central Washington and Western Oregon (10-16, 7-9) plays at Northwest Nazarene.

On Saturday, WWU will host Simon Fraser, UAA will play at Seattle Pacific, Alaska Fairbanks is at MSU Billings, Central Washington entertains Western Oregon and Saint Martin's closes out its season at Northwest Nazarene.

POLLS: AVCA (Nov. 18) – 10. Western Washington.  NCAA West Regional (Nov. 20) –   1. UC San Diego (23-3); 2. BYU-Hawaii (23-1); 3. CSU San Bernardino (22-5); 4. Sonoma State (23-5); 5. Western Washington (21-3); 6. Dixie State (17-9); 7. Alaska Anchorage (19-9); 8. Northwest Nazarene (16-6); 9. Central Washington (13-11); 10. Cal Baptist (17-11). (Note: Records are versus Division II opponents) 

Hutchinson Still Second in Digs in NCAA National Statistical Report

Samantha Hutchinson of Western Washington maintained her No. 2 national ranking in this week's NCAA Division II report.  The WWU libero is averaging 6.82 per set.

The Vikings' Kayla Erickson and Taylor Dillard also maintained their No. 10 rankings; Erickson is fourth in hitting percentage (.394) and Dillard ranks 10th in assists (11.66).

Also in the Top 10 is Nikki Lowell of Seattle Pacific, this week's GNAC Red Lion Defensive Player of the Week.  Lowell ranks ninth in blocks, averaging 1.33 per set. She is the GNAC's all-time No. 2 producer in total blocks with 411.

Outside hitter Sam Harthun of Alaska Fairbanks ranks sixth in kills (4.46) and seventh in points (4.94).

In team categories, Western Washington ranks sixth in hitting percentage (.276) and ninth in digs (18.81).  Seattle Pacific is ninth in blocks (2.54).

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Nov. 17): Individuals (Top 30): Points – 7. Sam Harthun, UAF, 4.94; 28. Kayla Erickson, WWU, 4.35. Kills – 6. Sam Harthun, UAF, 4.46.  Hitting Percentage – 4. Kayla Erickson, WWU, .394. Assists – 10. Taylor Dillard, WWU, 11.66; 30. Catie Fry, CWU, 10.65.  Blocks – 9. Nikki Lowell, SPU, 1.33; 14. Andrea Terpstra, NNU, 1.29; 21. Jodi Huddleston, UAA, 1.22; 22. Kayla Erickson, WWU, 1.22.  Digs – 2. Samantha Hutchinson, WWU, 6.82; 17. Kaely Kight, CWU, 5.53.  Team (Top 30): Kills – 13. Western Washington 14.09.  Hitting Percentage – 6. Western Washington .276.  Assists – 14. Western Washington 13.11.  Blocks – 9. Seattle Pacific 2.54; 22. Northwest Nazarene 2.37; 23. Western Washington 2.34; 27. Alaska Anchorage 2.31.  Digs – 9. Western Washington 18.81.

RED LION PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Offense -  Taylor Dillard, Western Washington (S, 5-8, Jr., Milton, WA – Fife) and Michelle Terpstra, Northwest Nazarene (S, 5-9, Jr., Ripon, CA) ... Setters Dillard and Terpstra each had 48 assists in 3-1 wins over regionally-ranked teams. Dillard had 81 assists in seven sets including 48 in Thursday’s 3-1 win at No. 9 Alaska Anchorage, as the Vikings reduced their magic number to clinching the GNAC’s automatic berth in the NCAA West Regionals to one.  Dillard’s setting helped the Vikings hit .362 including .467 (46-3-92) in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Fairbanks. Dillard also had nine digs, seven blocks and five kills.  “We had great team hitting and even distribution,” WWU coach Diane Flick said.  Five different players had at least 14 kills for the Vikings ... Terpstra had 48 kills as NNU beat No. 6 Central Washington.  She also had 11 digs, three blocks and three kills. Defense – Nikki Lowell, Seattle Pacific (MB, 5-10, Sr., Claremont, CA – Gonzaga) had 28 kills and 14 blocks to join both the 1,000 kill and 400 block club in road wins at Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon.  Lowell, who hit at a .423 clip (28-6-52), improved her career totals to 1.027 and 411, respectively.  She ranks second in the latter category on the GNAC all-time career list. Honorable Mention – Julia Wabinga, Saint Martin’s (OH, 5-8, So., Olympia, WA – North Thurston); Emily Boerger, Western Washington (MB, 6-1, Sr., Marysville, WA - Pilchuck); Taylor Roberts, Northwest Nazarene (L, 5-5, Jr., Nampa, ID); Linden Firethorne, Central Washington (OH. 6-0, So., Clinton, WA – South Whidbey); Kaitlin Quirk, Central Washington (MB, 6-1, So., Ellensburg, WA); Jordin Ramos, Western Oregon (S, 5-5, Jr., Makakilo, HI ); Megan Triggs, Western Oregon (DS, 5-6, Sr., Olympia, WA).

FROM THE RECORD BOOK: Lowell (See Player of the Week notes) is the 30^th player in GNAC history to record 1,000 kills and the third to reach 400 blocks.  She ranks sixth in GNAC history in hitting percentage with a .310 average.  Also in the Top 10 is Erin Smith of Central Washington who is currently ninth with a .291 percentage ... Lowell trails Becky Blees of Western Oregon for first place on the GNAC all-time blocking assist lead by three. Blees has 376 and Lowell has 373.  Blees also ranks first in blocks per set with a 1.07 average ... Saint Martin’s Kristyn Ross has 971 career points and need 29 more to become the 52^nd player in GNAC history to reach 1,000 in that category.

TEAM NOTES

Alaska Anchorage: Katelyn Zanders had 37 kills and hit for a .325 percentage as the Seawolves split two matches.  Brooke Pottle had 16 kills and Sarah Johnson had 15.  Quinn Barker had 39 digs and Erin Braun had 12 blocks.

Alaska Fairbanks: Sam Harthun had 42 kills including 23 against Simon Fraser.  Katelyn Camp was credited with 84 assists (12.00 per set).  Samantha Hesterman earned 29 digs.

Central Washington:  Linden Firestone had 17 kills and Kaitlin Quirk had nine blocks and nine kills in CWU’s four-set loss at Northwest Nazarene.  Kailey Kight was credited with 27 digs.

MSU Billings: Monica Grimsrud had 42 kills including 22 against Western Oregon and 20 at Saint Martin’s as the Yellowjackets won their first match in 11 contests on their opponents’ home court this season.  Chelsey Walter led the MSUB defense with 11 blocks.  She also had 24 kills.

Northwest Nazarene: The Crusaders, who have won eight of their last 10 contests to match Western Washington’s during that stretch, got a team-high 20 kills from Andrea Terpstra and 19 digs from Taylor Roberts in a 3-1 home win against Central Washington.  She also led NNU with seven blocks.  NNU overcame a 23-20 deficit to beat CWU 26-24 in the third set before winning the decisive fourth set 25-21.

Saint Martin’s: Julia Wabinga had 26 kills including 18 against Seattle Pacific as she hit for a .324 percentage against the Falcons.  Brooke Good had 23 kills and Kristyn Ross had 20 kills and 31 digs.  Maddie Knecht led SMU at the net with 11 blocks.    

Seattle Pacific: Madi Cavell had 39 kills and 19 digs in the Falcons’ two road victories.  Nikki Lowell had 28 kills, including the match-winner in a 3-2 win at Western Oregon. 

Simon Fraser: Madeline Hait had 16 kills and didn’t commit an error in 27 swings in the Clan’s 3-1 win at Fairbanks. She also had four blocks. Hait finished SFU’s two-match road trip with team-highs for kills (22) and blocks (4).  Kelsey Robinson had 20 kills and Alanna Chan had 22 digs.

Western Oregon:  Five different players had between 18 and 20 kills as the Wolves split two matches.  Cherene O’Hara and Hannah Deede had 20 each.  Lani Kalalau contributed 19 and Krissi Kemper and Becky Blees each had 18.  Setter Jordin Ramos had 49 assists, 25 in a 3-2 win over Montana State Billings. Megan Triggs led the Wolf defense with 42 digs. After beating MSU Billings 3-1, the Wolves lost in five sets to Seattle Pacific, falling to 3-7 in five-set matches this season.  That is the fifth highest number of five-setters in a season in GNAC history.  Alaska Anchorage played a record 12 in 2003, winning seven.

Western Washington:  Emily Boerger led the Vikings with 12 blocks and also had 14 kills in a pair of wins in Alaska.  WWU was also led by Jennica McPherson with 22 kills (.396) and Kayla Erickson with 21 (.425 percentage).  The Vikings, who have had three seven-match winning streaks in compiling a 21-3 overall record, improved to 18-0 in three-set matches with Saturday’s win at Fairbanks.