Wednesday, November 12, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - Led by Northwest Nazarene, GNAC teams hold the first four positions in this week's NCAA Division II West Regional volleyball poll. (Weekly Release)

The Crusaders (23-2, 16-1) and Alaska Anchorage (20-4, 14-2) held on to the No. 1 and No. 2 positions for the third week in a row, while Western Washington (19-6, 12-4) and Central Washington (19-6, 12-5) each moved up one position to third and fourth after being ranked fourth and fifth each of the past two weeks.

BYU-Hawaii slipped to fifth in the final ranking prior to this Sunday's announcement of the eight qualifiers for next week's NCAA Regionals.  The field and host for the tournament will be unveiled Sunday night at 7 p.m. on a ncaa.com web cast.

This week's second five includes Sonoma State (6th), Cal State San Bernardino (7th), Dixie State (8th), Humboldt State (9th) and Cal State L.A. (10th).

Generally the top seed team following the final weekend of play earns the right to host the tournament. 

Since 2001 the tournament, except in 2012 when it was held in Laie, Hawaii, has always been held in southern California (CSU San Bernardino 2001-02, UC San Diego 2003-04, Cal State L.A., 2005, CSU San Bernardino 2006-11, BYU-Hawaii 2012, CSU San Bernardino 2013).  

The eight qualifiers will include the champions of the GNAC, PacWest Conference and California Collegiate Athletic Association along with the next five highest ranked teams. 

Northwest Nazarene has clinched a tie for the GNAC title and the conference's automatic berth.  Sonoma State has a one match lead over Cal State San Bernardino in the CCAA.  In the PacWest defending regional champion BYU-Hawaii leads Dixie State by one-half matcch.

The three-day, single-elimination tournament begins Thursday.  The winner advances to the NCAA Division II Fall Sports Festival which will be held Dec. 4-6 at Louisville, Kent.

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. 9.  Northwest Nazarene is ranked 11th, Western Washington is ranked 15th, Cal State San Bernardino is ranked 22nd and Alaska Anchorage is ranked 24th.

Central Washington is among "others receiving votes" and is 28th overall.

NCAA West Regional Poll (Nov. 12) – 1. Northwest Nazarene (23-2); 2. Alaska Anchorage (20-4); 3.  Western Washington (19-6); 4. Central Washington (19-6); 5. BYU-Hawaii (19-5); 6. Sonoma State (18-5); 7. CSU San Bernardino (18-6); 8.  Dixie State (19-8); 9. Humboldt State (16-8); 10. Cal State L.A. (16-7).

NNU Needs Win or UAA Loss To Win Outright Title

Northwest Nazarene needs a win Saturday at Central Washington or one Alaska Anchorage loss this weekend to clinch the GNAC title outright.

It will be the Crusaders’ first GNAC volleyball title.  They’ve finished third three times, including 2007 when they made their only NCAA Division II post-season appearance.  They also finished third in 2008 and last year.

Alaska Anchorage’s lone GNAC volleyball title came in 2009.

UAA hosts Simon Fraser (16-8, 10-6) Thursday and Western Washington Saturday.

In addition to the SFU-UAA match, three other matches are on Thursday’s schedule.  Western Washington plays at Alaska (3-21, 3-13), MSU Billings (11-14, 6-10) visits Saint Martin’s and Seattle Pacific (11-13, 5-11) plays at Western Oregon.

Five matches on Saturday conclude the regular-season.

Nationally Speaking

Northwest Nazarene continues to lead Division II in blocks with a 2.73 average.  The Crusaders also rank seventh in digs (19.58).

Western Washington ranks sixth in digs (19.79) and Central Washington is 15^th in blocks (2.39).

WWU’s Samantha Hutchinson is the national leader in digs (7.29) and NNU’s Taylor Roberts ranks 15^th (5.79).

Sam Harthun of Alaska Fairbanks ranks 17^th in kills (4.14) and 19^th in points (3.55).  Madeline Hait of Simon Fraser ranks 12^th in blocks (1.21).

LAST WEEK’S SCORES: Thursday – Central Washington 3 at Seattle Pacific 2 (22-25, 25-13, 16-25, 26-24, 15-12); Northwest Nazarene 3 at MSU Billings 1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-20, 25-19); Saint Martin’s 0 at Western Washington 3 (25-17, 25-9, 25-14); Western Oregon 2 at Simon Fraser 3 (25-22, 26-24, 22-25, 20-25, 15-12). Saturday – Alaska Anchorage 3 at Alaska 0 (225-11, 25-23, 25-12); Central Washington 3 at MSU Billings 0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-18); Northwest Nazarene 3 at Seattle Pacific 0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-19); Saint Martin’s 0 at Simon Fraser 3 (25-19, 25-13, 25-14); Western Oregon 0 at Western Washington 3 (25-19, 25-13, 25-14).

GNAC Volleyball Players of the Week

Offense – Kayla Erickson, Western Washington (MB, 6-0, Sr., Gig Harbor, WA - Peninsula) averaged six kills and hit for a .516 percentage in sweeps of Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon.  Her 36 kills  represented 34.6 percent of the Vikings’ team total.  and her .654 percentage (17-0-26) in Thursday’s win against the Saints was the second highest in the GNAC this season.  She also led WWU in the two wins in blocks with five.  Erickson ranks second in GNAC history in career hitting percentage (.342) and needs nine more kills to reach the 1,000 career kill milestone. Defense – Christie Colasurdo, Western Oregon (OH, 5-11, So. Olympia, WA) had 67 digs, including a GNAC season and WOU career high 42 in a narrow 3-2 loss at Simon Fraser. Colasurdo, who equaled the ninth most digs in GNAC history for a five-set match against the Clan, recently moved from outside hitter to the libero position.

Team Notes

Alaska:    Brooke Mattice had 10 kills and Tessa Butterfield had 10 digs in the Nanooks’ 3-0 loss to Alaska Anchorage.  Each team had just two blocks in the match.  UAA outhit their state rivals .341 to .079.

Alaska Anchorage:  Katelyn Zanders needs 22 kills to join the 1,000-kill club.  She had 11 kills along with a match-high four aces against the Nanooks.  Brooke Pottle had 10 kills and Quinn Barker had 21 digs as the Seawolves improved to 10-1 in their last 11 matches.

Central Washington:  Catie Fry led the Wildcats with 84 assists and nine blocks in road victories at Seattle Pacific and MSU Billings.  CWU overcame a 2-1 set deficit to beat the Falcons.  Linden Firethorn was CWU’s attack leader with 36 kills.  Kiah Jones had 23. 

Montana State Billings: Alaina Gentili led the Yellowjackets with 24 kills and nine blocks and Krista Norris had 23 kills in a pair of losses to playoff-bound Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington.  Haley Wells paced the Yellowjacket defense with 28 digs and Ashlynn Ward had seven blocks. 

Northwest Nazarene:  Elayna Rice led a balanced attack with 23 kills and also had 28 digs as the Crusaders clinched the GNAC’s automatic berth in the NCAA West Regionals with two wins.  Five different players had 13 or more kills as NNU extended its win streak to 10 matches.

Saint Martin’s: Julia Wabinga was credited with 14 kills and Maddie Knecht had six blocks in 3-0 losses at Western Washington and Simon Fraser.   Kyra Davidson had five blocks as SMU finished with four more team blocks than its opponents.

Seattle Pacific: Jessica Miller had 26 kills and Madi Cavell was credited with 21 in losses to CWU and NNU.  Cavell also had eight blocks, including two solos, as she increased her career point total to 1,099.

Simon Fraser:  Kelsey Robinson had 30 kills and eight blocks to lead the Clan to two home wins as they clinched a conference match winning season improving to 10-6.  SFU was also led by Devon May with 22 kills.  Amanda Renkema had 20 kills and Madeline Hait, who ranks 13^th nationally in blocks (1.21), had 19 kills and 13 rejections.

Western Oregon: Christie Colasurdo had 67 digs, including a GNAC-season high 42 in a 3-2 loss  at Simon Fraser (See Player of the Week notes).  Offensively, the Wolves were led by Alisha Bettinson with 20 kills.  Samantha Moore had eight blocks.

Western Washington: Kayla Erickson needs nine kills to become the 35^th member of the GNAC 1000-kill club.  She had 36 and hit for a .516 percentage in two 3-0 victories in earning GNAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.  Erickson and Joellee Buckner each had five blocks in the two wins.