Wednesday, November 5, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – Northwest Nazarene can clinch its first NCAA regional volleyball playoff berth since 2007 with a pair of road victories this weekend at Billings and Seattle.

Two wins would assure the Crusaders no worse than a tie with Alaska Anchorage for the GNAC conference championship. 

In case of a tie, NNU, which maintained its No. 1 rank in this week's regional poll, would earn the conference’s automatic berth since it swept the season series with the Seawolves.

NNU, which is ranked a season-best 11th in this week’s AVCA national poll, plays at Montana State Billings Thursday before visiting Seattle Pacific Saturday.

UAA, which is ranked 25th, is idle Thursday before traveling to Fairbanks for its cross-state battle with the Alaska Nanooks Saturday.

Elsewhere Thursday, Central Washington, which has won seven of its last eight, plays at Seattle Pacific, Saint Martin’s visits 14th ranked Western Washington and Western Oregon is at Simon Fraser.

NNU Holds on to No. 1 in West Regional Poll

Northwest Nazarene held on to the No. 1 ranking in this week’s NCAA Division II West Regional poll as there was just one change in the Top 10.

For the second week in a row, four of the top five ranked teams are GNAC schools, including Alaska Anchorage (2nd), Western Washington (4th) and Central Washington (5th).  Defending regional champion BYU-Hawaii is ranked third.

The second five includes Sonoma State (6th), Cal State San Bernardino (7th), Humboldt State (8th), Dixie State (9th) and Point Loma Nazarene (10th).

The only change in the Top 10 is at No. 10 where Point Loma replaced California Baptist.

Generally, the No. 1 ranked team in the final poll earns the right to host the regional which will be played Nov. 20-22.

In this week’s AVCA national poll, which has no impact on the official NCAA regional poll, BYU-Hawaii is the highest ranked West Region team at No. 4.

Northwest Nazarene is ranked 11th,  Western Washington is 14th, Cal State San Bernardino is 18th and Alaska Anchorage is ranked 25th.

NCAA West Regional Poll (Nov. 5) – 1. Northwest Nazarene (21-2); 2. Alaska Anchorage (19-4); 3. BYU-Hawaii (175-4); 4. Western Washington (17-6); 5. Central Washington (17-6); 6. Sonoma State (16-5); 7. CSU San Bernardino (16-5); 8. Humboldt State (15-6); 9. Dixie State (16-7); 10. Point Loma Nazarene (15-9).

Crusaders Use Defense To Rise to No. 11 in National Poll

Northwest Nazarene had a remarkable defensive performance last Thursday in sweeping Western Washington. 

It was a performance that a Viking team hadn’t been subjected to in more than 14 years.

Led by GNAC Defensive Player of the Week Taylor VanValey who participated in eight of NNU’s 15 blocks, the Crusaders held the Vikings to a .007 hitting percentage.

That is the lowest percentage for WWU since the formation of the GNAC in the fall of 2001.  The previous WWU low was .045 versus Cal State San Bernardino on Sept. 3, 2011.

The win, along with a 3-2 victory Saturday against Simon Fraser, enabled the Crusaders to climb four places to No. 11  in this week’s AVCA national poll.

Western Washington, which also lost Saturday at Central Washington, fell from ninth to 14^th.  Alaska Anchorage remained at No. 25.

NNU’s rise to national prominence this fall has been led by its defense.  The Crusaders currently lead Division II nationally in blocks (2.71) and rank seventh in digs (19.75).

Western Washington is the only other GNAC team ranked in the Top 10 in a category.  The Vikings rank sixth in digs (19.91).

Individually, WWU’s Samantha Hutchinson climbed to No. 2 on the GNAC’s All-Time career dig list.  With 2,331, she only trails former Viking standout Courtney Schneider, who had 2,695 between 2004-07.

Hutchinson leads the nation this year averaging 7.42 per set.  Schneider set a GNAC record in 2007 when she led the nation averaging 7.74.  She was also the national leader in 2006 when she averaged 7.66.

The Alaska Nanooks’ Sam Harthun is the only other GNAC player ranked in the Top 10 this  week.  She ranks 10^th in kills (4.21).  She also ranks 19^th in points (3.55).  NNU’s Taylor Roberts ranks 13^th in digs (5.86).

LAST WEEK’S SCORES: Tuesday – Rocky Mountain 3 at MSU Billings 0. Thursday – Alaska Anchorage 3 at Western Oregon 0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-13); Simon Fraser 1 at Central Washington 3 (25-18, 25-21m 20-25, 25-23); Alaska 3 at Saint Martin’s 1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 27-25); Western Washington 0 at Northwest Nazarene 3 (25-14, 25-15, 25-23). Saturday – Alaska Anchorage 3 at Saint Martin’s 0 (25-22, 25-9, 25-19); Western Washington 2 at Central Washington 3 (25-16, 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9); Alaska 0 at Western Oregon 3 (25-18. 25-19, 25-17); MSU Billings  3 at Seattle Pacific 0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-19) Simon Fraser 2 at Northwest Nazarene 3 (25-9, 16-25, 25-13, 21-25, 15-10).

GNAC Volleyball Players of the Week

Offense – Kaitlin Quirk, Central Washington (MB, 6-1, Jr., Ellensburg, WA) had 18 kills and 15 blocks to lead the Wildcats to wins over Simon Fraser and nationally ninth-ranked Western Washington.  Quirk hit for a .378 percentage (18-4-37) as CWU improved to 7-1 in its last eight matches and 17-6 on the season.

Defense – Taylor VanValey, Northwest Nazarene (RS, 6-2, Jr., Brush Prairie, WA – Hockinson) had 17 kills and 11 blocks in wins over #9 Western Washington and Simon Fraser.  VanValey led a defense which had 15 team  blocks against Western Washington, holding the Vikings to a .007 hitting percentage.  She participated in eight of the 15, earning one solo and seven assists.

Team Notes

Alaska:    Sam Harthun had 38 kills , accounting for 43.2 percent of the Nanooks total, and five blocks as UAF split two road matches.   Miranda Grieser led the Nanooks with 73 assists and five aces.  Riley Podowicz was credited with eight blocks.

Alaska Anchorage:  Kayla McGlathery had 22 points in road sweeps at Western Oregon and Saint Martin’s, hitting a team-best .447 and earning five blocks.  UAA’s .310 percentage at Lacey was a season-best for the Seawolves.   Katelynn Zanders had 20 kills in the two matches increasing her career total to 967.

Central Washington:  Kaitlin Quirk had 14 blocks increasing her career total to 278, which ranks 31^st in GNAC career history.  She also had 18 kills and a .378 attack percentage.  CWU also got 30 kills from Linden Firethorne and 22 from Kiah Jones in sweeping Simon Fraser and archrival Western Washington.

Montana State Billings: Freshman Alaina Gentili had nine kills and five blocks to lead the Yellowjackets to a 3-0 win over Seattle Pacific as they held the Falcons to a season-low .008 attack percentage.  The win stopped a four-match losing slide and a four-match losing streak to SPU.  MSUB hadn’t won at SPU since 2009.

Northwest Nazarene:  The Crusaders lead the GNAC in four of the seven major team categories and rank second in two others.  They are first in kills (13.59), assists (12.57), opponent hitting percentage (.139) and blocks (2.71) and second in hitting percentage (.224) and digs (19.75) ... NNU’s Thursday win was its first against Western Washington since Oct. 8, 2009 at Bellingham snapping a 10-match losing streak to the Vikings.  Overall NNU has won eight straight.

Saint Martin’s: Rebecca Mitchell led the Saints with 23 kills and also had 26 digs and a team-high three aces in losses to the Alaska schools.  Kyra Davidson was credited with nine blocks and Jessica Riddle had 32 digs.

Seattle Pacific: Jessica Miller had a team-best eight kills in SPU’s 3-0 home loss to Montana State Billings.  Madi Cavell and Hannah Lautenbach each had five kills.  Cavell increased her career kill total to 902 with the handful.

Simon Fraser:  Kelsey Robinson had a team-high 29 kills in road losses at Ellensburg and Nampa.   Despite the two losses, SFU controlled the net outblocking the Wildcats and Crusaders 26-15.  The Clan, however, were outhit .217 to .132.  Madeline Hait had 14 blocks and Amanda Renkema had 12.

Western Oregon: Alisha Bettinson had 14 kills and four aces and Christie Colasurdo had 26 digs as the Wolves split two matches.  Hannah Deede and Cherene O’Hara were each credited with five blocks.

Western Washington: Kayla Erickson had 30 kills and Rachel Roeder had 29 in the Vikings’ two road losses.  Samantha Hutchinson earned 70 digs in the two matches and Erickson had nine blocks.